


The acceptable happy ending

by HARRYMALFOY



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-08 22:34:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11091318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HARRYMALFOY/pseuds/HARRYMALFOY
Summary: Yes, it's sixth year. It's the time of their lives. The Marauders are happy. Maybe not all of them and maybe not constantly, but they are happy.Yes, seventh year is happy too. Maybe not boring, but happy.And once Hogwarts ends, something unexpected happened.





	The acceptable happy ending

**Chapter 1**

"Sirius don't be silly!"  
Sirius Black was sitting on his bed, crawled up under his blankets and ignoring the shouts of his best friend Remus Lupin.  
"I'm not coming out! Never again!", he shouted back.  
The door to their dormitory was opened and James Potter stepped in.  
"What's... still not coming out?", he asked Remus.  
"No. He's still not coming out. No chance."  
Sirius laughed slightly. He was indeed not planning to come out. This day had been embarrassing enough for him.  
"Sirius, please. Let us talk.", Remus said, "Please."  
Sirius hesitated, but then he shifted forwards and opened the curtains of his four-poster.  
"Just you, Moony.", he said and looked at James, who nodded understanding and left. He closed the door silently and Remus sat next to Sirius on his bed.  
"Come here.", he said and hugged Sirius tightly. Sirius snuggled against him and buried his face in his shoulder. Remus pattened his soft long black hair.  
"It was horrible.", Sirius said and sniffed, "Horrible."  
Remus smiled. "I know, Pads, I know. But you can't sit here for the rest of your life. Get up, wipe down the dust and be the sexy, confident Sirius Black you used to be."  
Sirius looked at him.

"Have you just been humiliated in front of the whole school because you dumped a girl?", he asked, an eyebrow raised.  
Remus looked at him. "No. But I've watched. It wasn't that bad, you know... from a different point of view." Sirius laughed. "I don't understand why you've broken up anyway, you know. You've been such a cute couple."  
"I... it's... she's not the person I really want...", Sirius confessed.  
"She's not?" Now it was Remus' turn to raise an eyebrow.  
"No... not at all."  
Remus hugged Sirius once more and then stood up. "Well, then... I'll search Prongs and then we can talk about our next prank. Peter surely is with him." He turned around, slipped out of the room and left Sirius sitting there, slightly confused.  
_Have I done anything wrong?_ , Sirius thought and shook his head.  
The incident, that made Sirius this depressed had happened at dinner on this very November day. Sirius had planned for two weeks to break up with his girlfriend Jessica and at dinner he had plucked up the courage and had walked over to the Ravenclaw table. Someone must have told her, what he had been up to, because as he had asked her if they could talk alone for a minute, she stood up and had answered loudly:" Why Sirius? Why not talking in front of everyone? What's so urgent and so incredibly secret?" Sirius had been slightly shocked, he admitted, but he had said it anyway. He had told her very politely that he doesn't see them together in his future. "Jessica, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but I really don't see us together in my future. I think it's best for us, if we go separated ways. I'm really sorry.", had been his exact words. She glared at him and had shouted:" It's because of Remus isn't it? IT'S BECAUSE OF HIM! I knew it! Everyone did!" Sirius had never been this embarrassed in his whole life.  
But yes, he had to admit, he really liked Remus. And yes, a small part of his brain always screamed his name. And yes, for at least 50% he broke up with Jes, because he rather wanted to be together with Remus. But no, there was no chance of him and Remus being a real couple. They were friends. Just friends. Remus would hate him, if he found out, so Sirius had to keep it a secret. It couldn't be that hard.  
  
The next day, Sirius walked out of the portrait of the Fat Lady and headed to the Great Hall, where he was planning to eat breakfast.  
"Sirius!"  
He stopped and turned around. A first-year girl ran towards him, her red and gold striped tie flattering in the wind, she was followed by four other first-year girls.  
"What's up little tossers?", Sirius asked mockingly. The girl stuck her tongue out and Sirius laughed.  
"I'm Emilia.", she said, "We just wanted to tell you that you and Remus are such a cute couple! We pray for you two to stay together because honestly, you are destined to be together!" They looked at him with wide glowing eyes and Sirius felt guilty, that he had to tell them, that he and Remus weren't a couple.

"Emilia, I'm sorry, but Remus and I aren't..."  
"You aren't?", a tawny haired girl interrupted and he shook his head. "But... you're in love with him!"  
Sirius scoffed. "I'm not, and if I were, I wouldn't tell you that."  
The little girls laughed.  
"You are.", Emilia said.  
"Am not."  
"Are."  
"Am not."  
"You are! Everyone knows. The way you look at him, the way you talk with and about him. It's pretty obvious, you know." She folded her arms in front of her chest.  
"Okay... I just want to eat something. I'm starving." Sirius looked at the faces of the five little girls standing in front of him. "Do you want to join me?", he added and smiled, as the faces of the girls lit up.  
"Really?", the tawny haired girl asked and Sirius nodded. "I'm Sarah, by the way.", she said and shook Sirius' hand.  
"Well, come on then, before breakfast gets cold.", he said and marched off, the first-years following him.  
"I'm Louise.", a girl with short blonde hair said. Sirius smiled.  
"Sirius.", he said and shook her hand.

 

 **Chapter 2**  
"Moony, look who it is!", James said with an amused look.  
Remus turned around and wasn't surprised to see Sirius walking in, but he was surprised to find five first-years following him like little ducks following their mother.  
"What's he up to?", Peter asked and watched Sirius curious. Sirius caught Remus' eyes and wiggled his eyebrows.  
"What are you doing?", Remus mouthed and Sirius just laughed and walked by.  
"He's mental!", James laughed.  
"Totally mental!",Remus agreed.  


"So little friends, sit down." Sirius sat down at the very beginning of the Gryffindor table, close to the staff. The girls smiled at him sweetly and sat down. Emilia squeezed herself next to him.  
"So, Sirius.", she said and took a sip from her pumpkin juice, "Why are you and Remus not a couple?" Sirius spat out his own juice.  
"I don't wanna be rude or something, but I really don't think that this is any of your business.", he answered and cleaned his mouth with the sleeve of his robe. Louise looked at him and said with a raised eyebrow:"Honestly, Sirius. You should tell someone." Sirius hesitated.  
"I'm not going to tell anyone.", he finally answered.  
"So, you admit it!", Sarah said and smiled brightly. Sirius sighed. There was no chance of them not finding it out, so why not telling them?  
"Yes.", he breathed, "Yes, I admit it, but only if you promise not to tell anyone!" The girls nodded.  
"Tell someone.", Louise repeated.  
"Maybe this friend of yours, James.", a brunette girl called Ruby suggested. Sarah agreed.  
"Yeah... maybe you're not wrong. I can tell James. He wouldn't get mad at me, will he?" He looked at Emilia and she shook her head.  
"He won't. He's your friend, isn't he? He will totally understand. Besides, if he doesn't, he's an idiot. You and Remus _need_ to be together. You need to." Sirius laughed.

 

"What the bloody hell is he doing up there?", James asked. Peter shrugged and answered:"Making new friends, maybe." He laughed.

"Moony?" Remus didn't hear that. He's watching Sirius intensely.  
"Moony, what's wrong?" James followed Remus' gaze and his eyes landed on Sirius, who sat on the other side of the table and laughed heartily, perhaps at a joke one of the first-years told him. James smirked and snapped with his fingers.  
"Remus, wake up!" Peter laughed too. Remus blinked and looked at a grinning James.  
"Huh? Did you say something?", he asked and James shook his head smiling.  
"Hey, there's Amanda!" Peter was on his feet now and walked over to the Ravenclaw table, where a beautiful blonde girl sat down. Peter and Amanda are pretty good friends, James doesn't think anything of Ravenclaws, they're like soo smartasses.  
"Why doesn't he look at me?", Remus asked, more himself than James, but James answered anyway:" Maybe you should tell him." Remus looked at him.  
"Tell him?", he repeated in disbelief, "I don't even think about it! Honestly Prongs, that's an awful idea. I've awaited something more from you."  
"Why is that an awful idea?"  
" _Why_? Because Sirius would hate me if he knew. That's a fact,  Prongs. A fact." James laughed.

"Do it like Wormtail. Look at the poor guy.", James said and laughed.  
Remus turned around to look at Peter. He was sitting next to Amanda, and talked to her, while she was pouring in pumpkin juice and ignored him completely. Remus snorted.  
"That's a bit sad, isn't it?", he said.  
"Sad? Moony, that's not sad. That's paltry!" Remus laughed.  
"I thought they were good friends..."  
"Well, they are, but I think Amanda's got enough of him. I mean imagine Wormtail being by your side the whole day.", James answered. Remus scratched the back of his head.  
"You have Wormtail by your side the whole day..."  
"That's why I'm saying that. I speak from experience." Remus took one bite from his sandwich and continued looking at Sirius.

  
  
"Sirius?", Ruby said. He looked up and chewed on the sausage.  
"Hmm?", he asked with a full mouth.  
"Remus is looking at you the whole time.", she said and Sirius' eyes widened.  
"Really?", he asked and swallowed, "He does?" Ruby nodded. "Is he alone?", Sirius asked.  
"No, James is with him.", Sarah answered.  
"Oh."  
"When are you going to talk to James?", Emilia asked and drank from her juice. Sirius shrugged.  
"No idea."  
"As soon as possible.", Louise said and he nodded.  
"Yeah... maybe in Potions. We're sitting together anyway, so I can ask him there.", he suggested.  
"Good idea.", a girl named Phoebe said.  
  
After breakfast they stood up and walked out of the hall.  
"We have flying lessons now, but I wish you good luck!", Emilia said.  
"Thanks.", Sirius answered and smiled.  
"Bye Sirius. It was fun eating with you.", Sarah said.  
"We'll see us around.", Sirius said.  
"I hope so. And tell us how it went with James.", Ruby smiled.  
"Of course. Maybe we can eat dinner together if you want.", Sirius said with a questioning look.  
"Yeah! That'll be great!", Emilia answered, "Tell us everything!" Sirius smiled.  
"And you won't tell anyone, alright?", he asked and the five girls nodded and smiled.  
"Bye then!", Phoebe waved at him and they walked around a corner. Sirius breathed deeply and walked to Slughorn's classroom, where he had potions now.  
He took the door handle and pushed it down, pulled the door open and stepped in.  
"Ah, Mister Black. As always too late. But, well, sit down.", Professor Slughorn said and smiled. Sirius nodded wordlessly and sat down next to James.  
"Pads, where have you been?", James asked quietly.  
"Oh come on, the lesson has started a few minutes ago... I'm not that late. Besides, I talked to these first-years."  
"Yeah, so I noticed. But _why_ did you talk to them?" James dipped his quill in the ink in front of him and started writing something down on his parchment. Sirius copied him.  
"It's... I wanted to talk to you about that anyway.", he answered and finished writing. James looked at him.  
"Ok, we'll get Moony and Wormtail after the lesson and then you can talk.", he said, but Sirius shook his head.  
"No. Only you. Right now." James raised an eyebrow.  
"Well... okay. Go on, Pads." He started scribbling a golden snitch on the corner of his parchment.  
"I... it's not easy for me to tell you this, okay. I think I'm... For God's sake, Prongs look at me!" James looked up and laughed.  
"Okay, Okay, I'll look at you. Keep going. Padfoot, you once caught me at home in the middle of the night, naked, with a biscuit in my mouth. We have no secrets."  
"I think I'm in love with Moony." James' eyes widened.  
"Moony?", he asked in disbelief, "Our Moony?"  
Sirius nodded.  
"Yeah. Since a pretty long time actually."  
"I... this is... You should tell him, don't you think. Why don't you tell him, Pads? After the lesson... No, right now. Tell him right now.", James breathed out.  
"Prongs! Horrible idea! Horrible! You can't imagine how angry Moony would be with me. Really angry. He would hate me and I would ruin the Marauders because we wouldn't talk anymore and you must pick a side and of course you'll be on my side, but then you don't talk to Moony anymore and Peter will be on my side too, because everyone wants to be on my side because, come on, I'm gorgeous. And then Moony is alone and he will hate all of us and then we will hate him and then the fucking world is going to end!" James laughed.  
"Padfoot, Padfoot. C alm down, crazy dog! Calm down." He laughed and Sirius took a deep breath.

"I don't think he would hate you, to be honest.", James said and smiled. Sirius only shook his head.  
"Mr Potter, Mr Black, are you paying attention?", Slughorn asked and James and Sirius looked up. They put on their most innocent looks and nodded.  
"Well, then. What is the answer to my question?" Sirius and James looked in Remus' direction, searching for help.  
"Boomslangskin.", he mouthed and smiled.  
"Boomslangskin.", Sirius and James repeated. Slughorn turned around and continued with his lesson. Sirius and James smiled satisfied.  
"You're wrong, Prongsie. Totally wrong. He would definitely hate me.", Sirius whispered.  
"No. I'm not wrong. I'm always right.", James answered and continued doodling his snitch.  
"Not this time." James shook his head smiling.  
"You're ridiculous, Padfoot."

  
**Chapter 3**  
Now it was James' time. The time where he could prove how good his pranks really were. After the conversation he'd had with Sirius in Potions class, he couldn't stop thinking about it. How could his two best mates be so stupid and blind? Remus was in love with Sirius and Sirius was in love with Remus. They had to find out. How? James had been working on this prank for the whole day now. Sirius and Remus, of course, had no idea what will come the next morning. Satisfied with his brilliant idea, James leant back in his chair and smiled. He was too clever for this world. Too clever.  
"Hey Potter. What are you doing?", a sweet voice asked. James spun around and blushed immediately.  
"Lily! Hey. I'm working on a new prank."  
"I knew I'm not going to find you in the library without a good reason. But, anyway, you're planning the prank all alone? Where are the other three?", she asked and let herself sink on the chair next to him.  
"The prank ist for two of them.", James answered and smiled. Lily nodded and took out her stuff.  
"What's that for?", James asked and took her ancient runes book. She laughed.  
"Homework, James. Never heard of that?" James blushed even more.  
"And... What are you doing this evening?", he asked, instead of answering to her rude question.  
"I don't know. Probably something with Marietta and Marlene.", she answered without looking up from her essay. James shifted in his seat and then she looked up.  
"I'm not going out with you, James." He laughed nervously.  
"What? I didn't..." Lily raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, I did, but why not?"  
"There we go. James. I will think about it, okay? But now, continue with your plan and let me continue with my essay. I need to hand it in later." James scoffed.  
"You picked the seat next to me. You just could've ignored me!" Lily laughed and James swore he saw her blush a bit, but she didn't say anything. He sighed and continued filing at his plan.  
" _Moony usually stands up first, Padfoot second last_.", he thought, " _I'm the last... that could be a bit problematic_." His thoughts were interrupted by Lily, who pushed her elbow gently in his chest.  
"What is it?", he asked and Lily shrugged.  
"You should think more. It suits you.", she said and James felt like exploding. His face was glowing and he looked like a tomato. He grinned nervously and looked down.  
"Thanks.", he said and smiled to himself.  
"No problem."  
" _Well, I can't do it before full moon, that's definitive not an option. His moodswings could be a problem too, given the fact that full moon is already in two days. Damn it, I have to wait till the end of the week. But, wait. That's perfect! Then the Christmas holidays start and I need one week. And Remus stays here for Christmas, his mom herself told me! So if I succeed, these two love birds will be together exactly on Christmas eve, what is, proven by psychologists, the perfect day to get together! I'm a genius!_ " He scratched his chin.  
"Good, good.", he said thoughtfully.  
"What's good, James?", Lily asked and looked at him.  
"Nothing!", James answered and sprung up, "I'm sorry, Lily, but I need to carry something out!" With these words, he ran out of the library, ignoring the shouts of Madame Pince.  
He ran up to the Gryffindor tower.

"Prongs! What are you doing?", Peter asked and picked himself with his knitting needle in his finger. James ignored him, ran upstairs in their dormitory and slammed the door shut.  
"Hey Prongsie-boy.", Sirius said and looked up from his Quidditch magazine. "What's up?"  
James ignored him too, and walked over to his trunk.  
"James! What's wrong?", Sirius repeated.  
"Oh, nothing. No, I'm just looking for something.", James answered and continued to cramble in his trunk for one specific thing. After he was sure, he hadn't have it anymore, he walked back to the door.  
"Where are you going?", Sirius asked.  
"Mc Gonnagal.", James answered shortly and closed the door behind him.  
  
"Professor?" James stepped into McGonnagal's office.  
"Professor? Potter what's wrong? You should go to Madame Pomfrey.", McGonnagal smiled.  
"No, no. I think I'm pretty fine. I just wanted to ask if tomorrow will be a Hogsmeade weekend.", James answered. McGonnagal looked at him.  
"Of course there will. Why do you want to know that, Potter?", she asked, "Not any pranks planned, are there?" James laughed.  
"With all due respect, Minnie, if there were, I surely wouldn't tell you."  
McGonnagal laughed. "That's the James Potter I know." She stepped in front of her table, her elegant blue robe shining in the evening sun.  
"How's Mr Lupin doing?", she asked.  
"Um... He's fine, I think. Sirius and Peter are with him now. He has, as usual, his mood swings, but apart from that he's fine." McGonnagal nodded.  
"Why are you not with them, Potter?", she asked.  
"Oh, because wanted to spend time with you, Minnie." James laughed.  
"Well then, Mr Potter, help yourself.", she smiled and offered him a biscuit.  
"Thanks.", James said and shoved half of it in his mouth. McGonnagal lauged and took one herself. She bit down a small piece and swallowed.  
"I've got so much to do. Next year for you won't be easy. Your N.E.W.T.s are coming and you have to study so much.", she told James, who nodded and chewed.  
"I know. Lily and Remus are perfectly prepared for this stuff, but me and Sirius are totally behind. We've got mountains of homework!", James answered and McGonnagal laughed.  
"If you should have a child, Potter, make sure that he doesn't pile his homework like you do."  
"Are you kidding me? If I should have a child, to be honest I prefer a boy, he would spent the whole day practising Quidditch. As if _my_ son, the son of James Potter, would study all the time." He snorted, "Minnie, please. As if!" McGonnagal laughed again and James took another bite.  
"You're right, Potter. How could I just think of it." She rolled her eyes, "Mr Black told me, you don't come forwards with Mrs Evans, do you?"  
"Huh? Oh, Lily... well she told me that thinking suits me.", James told his professor proudly.  
"Pity, that she doesn't get to see it that much of time."  
James pulled a face and laughed with her. He finished his biscuit and said:" Well, Minnie, I'm going to go and look at Remus." McGonnagal stood up and smiled.  
"Do that, Potter. Do that.", she said and James opened the door, walked back to the common and talked to his friends, but he told them nothing about his meeting with McGonnagal.  


**Chapter 4**  
Remus woke up 15 minutes after midnight on this cold November Saturday. Tomorrow is full moon and he could feel it already. It felt horrible. His stomach twisted and rumbled and his head spun. He sighed loudly.  
"Moony?"  
Remus opened his eyes and looked around. James was sleeping quietly opposite him, Peter snored loudly next to James and Sirius breathed peacefully in his sleep next to Remus. But... when Sirius slept... had he just imagined Sirius saying his name? This can't be. This was ridiculous. No. Remus looked over at him. His long black hair was shining in the silver moonlight and falling over his pillow. Sirius' lips were partnered and pale. His cheeks were rosy and his eyes shut. Long black lashes twitched every second. Sirius obviously forgot to take his mascara off the evening before. His eyebrows were perfectly plucked. Remus smiled. Sirius was so hot, even when he was sleeping. No,  honestly, how can someone look this good, even when he was sleeping? This is impossible. Remus shook his head slightly. Sirius' bed looked so warm and comfortable. It wouldn't be anything new, when he and Sirius slept in the same bed. They've done it several times before, especially before full moon. And Remus really didn't feel good at this moment. He slowly stood up and walked over to Sirius' bed. He sat down next to him and looked down at him.

"Sirius?", he whispered, "Sirius?" Sirius didn't move and Remus shook him gently.  
"Sirius.", he repeated, "Padfoot." Now Sirius moved a bit.  
"Hmmm?", he answered sleepily without opening his eyes.  
"Sirius, I feel sick.", Remus said and Sirius' eyes shot open.  
"Moony, everything alright?", he asked and was all awake immediately. Remus nodded hesitantly.  
"Don't lie to me.", Sirius said, "Come on." He held up the blanket and Remus slipped under them. Sirius put his arm around Remus' waist and pulled him closer.  
"Just one minute.", Remus said and smiled. Sirius smelled like cigarettes and mint.  
"Hm hm.", Sirius answered and closed his eyes again.  
"You know, I really didn't want to wake you up..."  
"Stop talking moon-boy and sleep.", Sirius said. Remus nodded and closed his eyes too.  
  
As always, he was the first one awake. He looked up at Sirius and found him still sleeping quietly. He smiled.  
"Thank you.", Remus whispered and stood up, "What... Prongs!" James opened his eyes and looked at him.  
"Yes, Moony?", he said and smiled sleepily.  
"Why are you wearing your clothes?", Remus asked concerned. James laughed.  
"Am I not allowed to wear clothes? Why don't you start a new law? _No clothes for James Potter_!"  
"Don't be silly. Where have you been?", Remus asked and James sat up.  
"Nosy, aren't you?", he laughed, "I've been in Hogsmeade." Remus raised an eyebrow.  
"What?"  
James laughed.  
"I don't believe you!"  
"Then don't." James shrugged.  
"Why...? What for..? WHAT'S WRONG?", Remus asked confused.  
"I've done some shopping. Oh, I got something for you.", James answered and grabbed a bag on in his bedside table. He pushed it to Remus and ordered:" Open it!" Remus hesitated, but looked in.  
"James! Thank you! You didn't need to!", he said and smiled brightly. He took out a large box of chocolate. James smiled.  
"Full moon is tomorrow and I know how bad you feel, so I thought, I could bring you something that'll make you feel a bit happier."  
"You know, you just could've brought me Sirius naked, but, well... Chocolate's so much better!", Remus answered and blushed. James laughed.  
"Yeah, well, that's your Christmas present then.", he joked and Remus wished it would be true.  
"I'm going to shower now, so if you may excuse me..." Remus closed the bathroom door and turned on the water. He pulled off his clothes and stepped into the shower. The water ran down his head warm. Remus tried not to concentrate on Sirius too much, but he couldn't help it.  
" _I'm hopeless._ ", he thought, " _Completely hopeless._ "  
  
"Morning, Moony.", Sirius said and smiled at Remus.  
"Morning, Padfoot.", Remus answered. He looked between James and Sirius. "What's wrong?"  
"What? Nothing? What should be wrong? What do you mean? Whaaat?", James answered and rubbed his head.  
"Okay... let's get breakfast. Where's Wormtail?", Remus asked and looked around.  
"Oh, he's in the common room already.", Sirius said and the three of them walked down the stone stairs.  
"Moony! How are you?", Peter asked as he sighted Remus.  
"Oh, I'm fine. Still.", Remus answered and smiled. They went down to the Great Hall to get breakfast, as four first-year girls ran towards them.  
"Sirius! Sirius!", shouted a black haired one. She grinned and stopped a few feet away from them.  
"Emilia. Good morning.", Sirius answered. He looked at the three others and nodded smiling. "Sarah, Ruby, Phoebe. How are you?"  
The girls smiled at him.  
"I'm fine, thanks.", said a blonde girl. Remus and James exchanged questioning looks and Remus shrugged.  
"Oh, Emilia, Ruby, Phoebe, Sarah, these are James", Sirius pointed at James, "Peter", he pointed at Peter, "and Remus." He pointed at Remus and the girls' grins widened. Sirius introduced the boys to the four girls and then looked at Emilia.

"What's up?", he asked.  
"We wanted to talk to you.", she answered with a sweet smile. Sirius smiled back and Remus found it really cute to see Sirius talking to children like this. Sirius looked at the three boys and they understood at once.  
"Yeah.", James said and nodded, "Go on." Sirius grinned.  
"Thanks Prongs.", he said and jumped off with his little friends. Remus laughed and shook his head.  
"What was that all about?", Peter asked.  
"No idea, Wormtail.", James said and they continued walking to the hall. On the Gryffindor table, they sat down and started eating.  
"You know, I think we should go to Hogsmeade today, because you should enjoy the last day before full moon.", James said and looked a t Remus, who placed his goblet back down on the table.  
"Well, yes, we can do that.", he answered, "But Sirius is coming too, isn't he?" James laughed.  
"Of course he will, Moony. Why wouldn't he?", Peter answered instead of James.  
"None of your business, curious Mr Wormtail.", James answered laughing. Remus looked up the table and watched Sirius eating a piece of bread. James noticed and laughed.  
"Moony, stop staring!", he said and nudged Remus in his ribs.  
"I'm not!", Remus argued.  
"You are. It couldn't be more obvious! Tell him."  
"You still don't get it, are you? Prongs, if I would tell him, he would kill me. He would hate me. Really hate me. Our friendship would be over faster thank you could say Quidditch." James laughed, but didn't say anything, because Sirius sat down next to Remus.  
"What's up, moon-darling?", he asked and put his arm around Remus' shoulder. No, it wasn't anything new for him, that Sirius touched him that often, or that he flirted with him all the time, but Remus was the opinion, that Sirius didn't even noticed it. Why would he do it otherwise? Remus tried hard not to blush and answered jokingly:" Oh, you know, the usual... thinking about you and how good-looking you are when you yawn." He laughed, as Sirius yawned widely.  
"Shut up, Moony!", Sirius said smiling.  
He picked up a fork and poked it in a carrot stick.  
"What were you and those girls talking about?", James asked and leaned over curious.  
"Oh, just... stuff", Sirius answered and shrugged. James wiggled his eyebrows at Sirius and laughed. Remus raised one eyebrow and looked at Sirius questioning.  
"No need for you to understand this, love.", he said and ruffled Remus' hair.  
"Sirius! Leave my hair alone or I'm gonna ruffle yours.", Remus threatened laughing. Sirius let out a fake scream and gasped dramatically for air. James and Peter laughed.  
  
After classes, Remus and Lily met in the library. He slipped into the chair next to her and flipped open his book.  
"How're things going with James?", he asked without looking at her and smiled at her wordlessness.  
"Um...", she answered hesitantly, "Good, I guess... I don't know, he's like always. And I try to be as unfriendly as I can so... pretty good." She smiled.  
"Lily, can I ask you something?", Remus asked, still not looking at her and he blushed.  
"Of course, Rem. What is it?", Lily answered and he looked up.  
"Uh, how do you know, you're in love?"  
"It's... pretty hard to describe actually. For me, personally is, when I can laugh about his jokes, no matter how bad they are."  
_Remus totally laughes at Sirius' bad jokes_  
"When I think about him all the time,"  
_Remus thinks about Sirius all the time_  
"like, at breakfast,"  
_totally_  
"at dinner,"  
_always_  
"in the shower."  
_oooh yes!_  
"When I always have these stupid butterflies in my stomach that make me feel so sick"  
_Yes, Remus knew these stupid butterflies_  
"His laugh makes me so happy."  
_Sirius' smile made Remus definitely happy._  
"I could kiss him when he's being stupid, even when I should be mad at him."  
_All the damn time when Sirius is being stupid_  
"Why tho?", Lily asked.  
"Oh... I'm- I'm just asking.", Remus answered, "I'm sorry. I need to be alone now." With these words he stood up and left the library. He ran up in his dormitory and lay  down and closed the curtains.

"Moony?", Sirius asked, but did not pull back the red curtains, wich surrounded Remus.  
"What?", Remus snapped.  
"Everything alright?", James asked. Remus couldn't see their faces, but he was sure, both of them looked at each other with a worried look.  
"Yes.", Remus answered sharply.  
"Probably one of his moonswings.", Sirius suggested.  
"Sirius, go away!", Remus said and buried his face in his pillow.  
"What? Moony, what did I do?", Sirius asked back.  
"You're being... _you_!", Remus answered.  
"But... That's a good thing, isn't it?"  
"No!", Remus answered loudly, "Not now!"  
"Sirius, I think it's really for the best if you leave him alone. I would like to talk to him for a minute.", James said and Remus could feel Sirius nodding. He heard the door being closed and his curtains were pulled back. James sat down on the bed next to him.  
"What's wrong?", he asked and looked directly at Remus.  
"Sirius.", Remus answered, "Sirius is wrong." James laughed softly. "I asked Lily about how you know when you're in love." James looked interested, even though Remus knew it was because of Lily, but he felt better with every second he could talk to someone. "And I'm in love with Sirius. Really badly in love."  
"How do you know?", James asked.  
"I feel everything Lily told me when I think about Sirius. It makes me... happy." Remus looked down sadly.  
"You don't look happy.", James said and Remus shook his head.  
"No, it's just... Why doesn't he like me?" James opened his mouth to answer, but Remus shook his head. "No, Prongs, don't say it. I won't talk to him. Forget it." James sighed.  
"All right. But later don't say, I didn't told you to do so.", he said and Remus laughed. "And now, go down and apologise to Padfoot. He looked like a sad dog when you shouted at him and sent him out." Remus nodded and stood up. He and James went down to the common room, but Sirius wasn't there. Only Peter, who sat on the couch and knitted something, what looked like a blue sock.  
"Where's Sirius?", Remus asked him.  
"Padfoot? Oh, he stormed out a few minutes ago. I think he was crying, but he didn't answer me, so I'm not sure. Don't know where he went, but he grabbed his cloak, so I think he went outside. No good idea, given the fact that it's snowing like mad out there.", Peter answered and without any emotion, he continued knitting. Remus sank in the armchair next to him and sighed loudly.  
  
  
"I need to get away from here!", Sirius said and rushed out of the room. He felt tears streaming in his eyes.  
"Padfoot! Hey, what..."  
Sirius ignored Peter and grabbed his black cloak, wich hung over the chair. He sniffed.  
"Padfoot, where're you going? It's snowing! Pad..."  
But the portrait swung shut and Sirius stormed out. He ran outside and out of the castle. Down on the lake, he sat beneath a big tree.  
"He doesn't love me!", he told himself and started crying. "Yes, look at me, I'm Sirius Black, the crying baby in love! Pathetic!" He wiped away his tears, with no use, because more tears streamed down his cheeks, getting icy cold in the frozen air. Sirius' hands trembled and he wiped away his tears again. His cloak was wet and his eyes hurt. He watched the white snowflakes falling down on the frozen lake. He started laughing and closed his eyes. He stuck out his tongue and let it snow in his mouth. Sirius rubbed his arms and his chest and started freezing.  
" _Wormtail was right. It's really snowing._ ", he thought and laughed. " _We nearly have December, Sirius, what do you expect?_ ", he answered himself in thoughts.  
  
  
Peter had no idea what's going on at all. Sirius was gone, Remus wa depressed because of something and James ws still after Lily. And he ws just knitting new socks as his mother's Christmas present.  


**Chapter 5**  
Two days later, full moon was over. Remus lay in the hospital wing with Sirius by his side, enough time for James to finish his ingenious prank.  
"Hey, Prongs, what are you doing?", Peter asked. Hectic, James stuffed his paraphernalia under the table and grinned at Peter nervously.  
"Oh, you know... playing around.", he answered.  
"Nice. Lily  told me that she was pretty excited for Christmas. What do you get her for a present?"

"A kiss.", James answered and grinned. Peter shook his head laughing. "No, honestly, we hung up mistletoes lately and I enchanted some of them, that on Christmas she's attracted to stand under them with me."  
"You're crazy!", Peter laughed, "Well, I'm going to meet Adriana now." He left James alone with his stuff, which he finished fastly and then he walked to the hospital wing.  
"Remus Lupin!", he shouted to get his attention, a he stepped into the room.  
"Mister Potter!", Madame Pomfrey hissed, "Shut up!" James laughed and walked over to Remus' bed, with Sirius sitting next to him.  
"Do you always have to be noticed?", Remus asked laughing, then hold his chest with a painful look.  
"You're alright?", James asked and looked for Madame Pomfrey.  
"Yeah, Yeah, it's just the smell and everything. Sirius won't stop smelling like dog!" Sirius turned to him sharply.  
"Don't blame me!", he said, "Outrageous." James laughed and sat down next to Sirius.  
"When do you get out?", he asked and turned back to Remus, who shrugged.  
"Moony, you have to get out soon! Tomorrow the holidays start and I don't want them to start without you!", Sirius whined and Remus smiled.  
"Thanks, Padfoot. I think I get out tomorrow morning.", he answered and Sirius couldn't help himself but hug Remus gently and carefully. As he pulled away, he asked jokingly:" Did I hurt you, love?" Remus smiled and James thought he saw him blush, but if he did so, it vanished really quickly. Remus shook his head.  
  
After their visit, James and Sirius left Remus in the hospital wing to sleep.  
"That was depressing.", Sirius said and James nodded. That was the first thing Sirius said after every visit.  
"I feel bad for him.", James said and now it was Sirius' turn to nod. "Hey, what's up there?" James pointed on a red haired girl at the other end of the corridor, talking to someone with shoulder long black hair, but not hair like Sirius had, no, this hair was greasy and looked like the person hadn't showered in years.  
"It's Snivellus!", Sirius said and the two boys walked faster. Lily was standing there, her books under her arms and talking to Severus Snape, a Slytherin, who was, in Lily's opinion, a pretty nice person.  
"Snivellus!", James shouted and Severus looked up with an ugly sneer on his face.  
"Not doing anything forbidden?", Sirius mocked.  
"Apart from being yourself?", James laughed. Lily looked at him with disgust.  
"James, shut up.", she said, but James ignored her, instead Severus spoke.  
"You're really friends with a Black, Potter? Really, even though you hate Slytherins?!"  
"It may have escaped your notice, Snivellus, but I'm in Gryffindor. You can see that on the tie and the blazon!", Sirius said, while James reminded still, waiting for Snape to say something, so he can fire back. He felt anger rising inside him, Sirius however seemed cool with the situation.  
"Ooh, but you're still a Black, aren't you? The apple doesn't fall far from the stem.", Severus said.  
"Shut up Snivellus!", James shouted and pointed his wand at Severus' chest.  
"You wouldn't do that.", Severus said and looked at James' wand. He laughed.  
"Oh, yes, I do. If you should ever insult any of my friends, I'm going to blast your fucking head off! I'll give you ten seconds.", he said. In his head, he started thinking of a good spell to use on him now.  
"Nine.", James started counting. Severus just stood there and laughed slightly, but James knew, that he was feared.  
"Eight." _Would Stupefy be a good spell?_  
"Seven." _Or would that shock Lily too much?_  
"Six." _What about setting his cloak on fire?_  
"Five." Severus seemed nervous now.  
"Four." _Turning his tie red would be cool._  
"Three."  
"Two." Before James came down to one, Severus grabbed his bag and ran away, round the corner and vanished from sight. Sirius and Lily just stood there and watched him.  
"Lily, did you do something different with your hair today?", James asked, as if nothing happened. Lily looked at him, confused.  
"No, Potter. It's like always." James turned  to Sirius.

"Come on, Sirius, we've got Christmas planning to do." And he walked off, Sirius following.  
"Thanks, mate.", he said and James smiled.  
"No need to thank me.", he answered and named the password.  


**Chapter 6**  
"Remus, what is this?", Sirius asked the next morning and pointed at the big new scar, that glanced out under the sleeve of the red jumper Remus was wearing.  
"Um...  a scar.", Remus answered and pulled the sleeve over the scar.  
"No, no, no! Why are you covering them?" Sirius shook his head violently, "Don't!" Remus sighed.  
"Sirius, you know I hate them."  
Sirius took one step towards Remus and pulled the sleeve of the jumper up.  
"But I love them.", he said and smiled. Sirius really did, he really did love Remus' scars. They showed that he was a fighter. That he was strong and even though he had scars everywhere, he was beautiful. Remus smiled.  
"Guys, listen up!", James shouted and stormed in their room. Sirius and Remus looked at him.  
"Pads, I've got a good cologne for you! It's so nice, Lily got me the same. Remus, you got one too!" He pushed little bottles of perfume in their hands and smiled. "Tell me how you like it. Come on." Remus sighed and put some of it on. So did Sirius.  
"Wow, it's pretty... good...", Sirius said, "Remus how much chocolate do you have with you? I can smell it till up here!" Remus shook his head.  
"What? I can't smell anything but your cigarettes! Honestly, nice try covering it up with chocolate, but Pads, it's not working!", Remus argued. James snickered and Sirius and Remus suddenly fell silent.  
"What are you up to?", Sirius asked, his eyes narrowed.  
"Me? What? Nothing. Why should I...? _How dare you!_ " He laughed, "If you may excuse me now." And he was gone.  
"What the hell was that all about?", Remus asked and Sirius shrugged.  
"No idea."  


**Chapter 7**  
James was clever. Sometimes too clever for his own liking. He had put Amortentia in the perfume bottles and had given them to Remus and Sirius. Without knowing it, of course, they had put it on and had argued about it. Remus thought Sirius smelled like cigarettes and chocolate, and Sirius thought Remus smelled like chocolate.  
"Stupid puppies.", James laughed to himself, "Task one, check." Now he had to go on with his next task. This prank was the best he ever had and will ever have. He will tell his children about it. Yeah, his son. James definitely wanted to have a son. With Lily. But she didn't. So... But his thoughts were on the wrong way. The prank was the only thing he needed to  concentrate on. So he took out the thing he had bought in Hogsmeade that day after his little talk with Professor McGonnagal. He laughed. But no one is allowed to know about his prank, so he needed to keep going like everything was normal.

  
After breakfast, they went back to the common room.  
"Boys, now that most of the students are gone, we could try again to get up to the girl's dormitory!", Sirius said excitedly.  
"Padfoot, that's not a good idea. You know what McGonnagal will say about it." Remus shook his head.  
"Nah, maybe another time.", Peter said.  
"Hell, yes, mate! Let's do it!", James was fire and flame for this idea. Remus still shook his head, but now, that James liked the idea, Peter liked the idea too.  
"How're we gonna do it, Pads?", he asked.  
"Okay, here's the plan: I'm trying to get up there, wearing a girl's dress, because at first, we need to find out how these stairs work.  
"Good idea. What am I going to do?", James asked excitedly.  
"You... you'll levitate someone up there! That s the best idea ever!", Sirius said.  
"You're right! Just think about it, if no one steps on the stairs, it won't know, if anyone's going up there!", Peter is convinced, "And I'll count the stairs I can get up without doing anything!" James laughed and nodded. Sirius laughed too and pulled a dress over his head.  
"How do I look?", he asked and posed in front of Remus, who shook his head smiling.  
"Ridiculous.", he said and Sirius laughed.  
"Ok boys! This is a historic moment!", James said and imitated with Peter a drum-whirl. Sirius took one step on the stairs and walked up.  
"Three. Four. Fiiii..." Before he could even say the number, the stairs turned into a slide and Sirius landed on his arse on the floor in front of James, who laughed like he was going to die. Even Remus couldn't help himself and started laughing at the ridiculous sight of Sirius Black sitting in a dress on the floor in the common room, looking like he had been followed by a herd of Hippogriffs.

"Yes, yes, very funny.", Sirius said, but laughed. He was happy, that Remus could laugh again.  
"My turn!", Peter said and smiled.  
"Go on, Wormtail! If you get higher than five, we know the stairs don't work like I thought."  
"Or that the stairs won't let up a Sirius Black in a girl's dress.", James laughed and Sirius stuck his tongue out.  
"One.", Peter started counting and everyone was now looking at him. James hold his breath.  
"Four.", Peter said and Sirius was surprised.  
"Five." Peter wanted to cheer, but in that moment, the stairs turned into a slide and Peter laughed.  
"Nice try, but no one gets higher, than Sirius Black!", Sirius said triumphantly and laughed.  
"Okay, who's volunteering?", James asked.  
"Me, me!", Sirius said and jumped up and down, "Please, Prongsie!" James laughed and took out his wand.  
"Wingardium Leviosa.", James said and waved his wand at Sirius.  
"Woah!" Sirius flew high up in the air, "Prongs, don't let me fall!", he said and James laughed.  
"I won't.", he answered.  
"I don't trust you." James laughed and levitated Sirius towards the stairs.  
"I was mistaken.", he said, " _This_ is a historic moment!" Peter and Remus laughed and Sirius was levitated over the first stair. It felt stange. Every part of his body was tickling slightly.  
" _Does it feel like that for the objects, we levitate?_ ", he thought and laughed.  
"Ouuu. Stair number four.", Peter said.  
"Do we get higher than give?", James answered and Sirius nodded.  
"Yes, mate! We do!" Stair five was still a stair.  
"Six!", James said and the stairs turned once again into a slide, but with no one sliding down. James levitated Sirius back and let him fall down the last few centimetres.  
"SIX! We've got up six stairs!", Sirius shouted and clapped excitedly. James and Peter laughed.  
"I'll try again.", Peter said.  
"Yeah, but this time running.", James suggested. Peter nodded and walked to the stairs. He breathed out and started running up the stairs.  
"Five. Still five. I don't think we'll get higher than six.", James said.  
"Guys, I feel strange.", Remus said and stopped laughing.  
"Moony, what's up?", Sirius asked and placed a hand on Remus' shoulder. The unexpected touch made him shiver.  
"I don't know... I feel like something bad is..." I'm in this moment, the portrait swung open and Professor McGonnagal stepped in.  
"You guys again. I knew it.", she said and sighed, "Come with me."  
"Sure, Minnie. Whatever you want.", James said and smiled toothy. McGonnagal sighed again and shook her head.  
  
"Here are your lines.", she said, as the four boys sat down in her office, "Mr Black: I am not allowed in the girl's dormitory even if I'm wearing woman's dress robes." Sirius snickered and McGonnagal pushed a piece of parchment and a quill in front of him. "Mr Potter: I shall never again levitate a fellow student up the girl's dormitory staircase." James laughed lightly and McGonnagal pushed a piece of parchment and a quill in front of him too. So she did with Peter and said:" Mr Pettigrew: I am not permitted to see how high I can climb the girl's dormitory staircase before it turns into a slide." Peter grinned and finally, McGonnagal turned to Remus. She sighed. "And for you, Mr Lupin: I should not be friends with Mr Black, Mr Potter or Mr Pettigrew." Sirius, James and Peter bursted into laughter and Remus smiled sheepishly. "Write it 20 times and you're allowed to go." The boys nodded and started writing silently.  
"I don't want to see you in my office for the rest of the holidays. Can you manage that?", the Professor asked, as they handed in their work.  
"But Minnie, the holidays have just started!", James complained.  
"I know, Potter. Can you manage that?", she repeated and looked at the four of them. They all nodded.

"Good. Off you go."  
"Two weeks? That's impossible!", James said and sunk into the the soft leather of the couch in the common room.  
"I know, right.", Sirius said and sat down next to him, "There's no chance for us not doing any shit that will offend Minnie in two weeks." Remus shook his head.  
"Really impossible." , he said. Peter just laughed and took a bite from the cupcake he had took from the kitchens.  
  
The day rushed by and James prepared himself for the night. He got his utensils with his wand under the pillow and went to sleep.  
"Night, guys.", Remus said and yawned.  
"Night Moony.", they all answered and then silence followed.  
  
At four in the morning, James woke up. As usual at this time, the others still slept. He grinned widely as he found Sirius and Remus sleeping quietly in their beds.  
"Oh, you're going to fall in love very quickly.", he whispered and grinned even wider.  


**Chapter 8**  
Sirius woke up last and stood up.  
"Morning." James sat with a grin on the edge of his head and waved at Sirius.  
"Hey Progns, what's up?", Sirius asked, a bit concerned about the creepy grin in the face of his best friend.  
"What? Nothing. Remus is still in the bathroom.", James answered. Sirius dressed himself and scarcely he finished, the bathroom door swung open and Remus stepped out. James sprung up and pulled something out from under his pillow. He walked over to Remus and Sirius, who stood next to each other.  
"Prongs, what...", Remus began. A _klick_ signalised Sirius what just happened.  
"James Potter you arse!", he shouted as James took a step back and grinned. Remus' left and Sirius' right hand were handcuffed. James laughed.  
"James, what's that all about?", Remus asked confused.  
"These, gentlemen, are handcuffs. I've enchanted them, so they won't go off. If you should try to get them off, they will become narrower. Right? Right.", James explained.  
"You can't do that!", Sirius said and tugged at the handcuffs. James smiled.  
"Oh yes, I can." Remus sighed.  
"Alright.", he said. Sirius looked at him with raised eyebrows.  
" _Alright_? Moony, he tied our hands together!"  
"Sirius, stop complaining. I'm fully aware of what just happened, but my hand is also tied and I'm not complaining. We need to get through this, before this crazy boy here has another idea." Sirius nodded hesitantly. Secretly, he wanted his hands tied together with Remus', but he's expecting himself to do something stupid, like holding Remus' hand or something. But no, that won't happen. Sirius will resist! There's no doubt, he's going to regret that very soon. James clapped in his hands.  
"Well, let's get down to breakfast?", he asked and walked down the stairs.  
"He's mental!", Remus said to Sirius and shook his head smiling. Sirius smiled too. He was happy if Remus was happy.

  
"Sirius, Remus, I've got another task for you.", James said and sat down opposite of them, "You're not allowed to eat." Sirius raised an eyebrow.  
"So first you tie our hands together and now we're supposed to starve to death?", Remus said. James laughed lightly and shook his head.  
"No. You must feed each other. That's how you're going to eat." Now Remus laughed too.  
"You're totally out of your mind!", he said, but James just shook his head.  
"Do it." Sirius sighed and took the carrot stick from Remus' plate and fed it to him. Remus laughed.  
"Great, little servant. Now I want something to drink."  
"Shut up, Moony.", Sirius said smiling, "I want a slice of bacon first." Remus laughed and fed Sirius. Then Sirius poured pumpkin juice in Remus' goblet. So it went on for the rest of the breakfast. A lot of students turned around to look at them, but Sirius didn't care. He was with Remus. That was all he cared about.  
  
And then, Remus wanted to go to the library.  
"Moooony!", Sirius whined, "I hate the library!" Remus laughed.  
"Come on, Padfoot. The library is not that bad."  
"It's boring.", Sirius said and pulled on the handcuffs.  
"I'm going with you!", Remus laughed.  
"Yeah. Because you have no choice."  
"Neither have you." Sirius sighed defeated and Remus smiled. "So, come on." He  pulled Sirius to his feet. They sat down in the library, which was completely deserted, apart from the librarian Madame Pince. She waved at Remus as he walked in, but as she spotted Sirius, a sneer crossed her face and she turned away.

"She hates me.", Sirius said laughing. He and Remus sat down on a table.  
"And loves me.", Remus said and grinned.  
"Everybody loves you.", Sirius answers and blushed immediately as he noticed, what he'd just said. Remus smiled.  
"Love you too, Pads.", he said and flipped his book open without any emotion showing on his face. Inside, on the other hand, his feelings were all mixed up. Total uncontrollable happiness because of the thing Sirius just had said, fear because of the fact that Sirius didn't mean to say it and anger that he couldn't bring himself to say the three words. These three little words, that mean so much. He sighed sadly and looked down on his book. But he just stared at the word "anxiously". He twitches lightly, as Sirius placed his hand on Remus' shoulder.  
"Moony, what's wrong?", he asked gently.  
"Oh, nothing.", Remus shrugged, "Let's study." Sirius opened his mouth to answer, but Remus shushed him and kept reading.  
  
  
Sirius gazed at Remus. He was so beautiful, when he read. And when he slept. And when he ate. And when he laughed. And when he turned into a werewolf. And when he was just himself. To Sirius, Remus was always beautiful. The shock about what he had said a few seconds ago turned down and now he just watched Remus.  
"Sirius, what are you doing?", Remus asked concerned and Sirius looked away from Remus' arse.  
"Star gazing.", he answered and laughed. Remus laughed too, shook his head and continued reading.  
  
After one hour in the library with Remus, Sirius sighed.  
"What's wrong, Pads?", Remus asked without looking up from his essay.  
"As if Prongs isn't looking for us...", Sirius answered. Remus shrugged.  
"I think he has quite a good reason to cuff our hands together.", Remus said and bit on his quill. Sirius smiled. He loved it when Remus did this. Why was he like that?  
"Do you want to go back?", asked Remus. Sirius looked at him.  
"Really? But you wanted to study..."  
"Yeah, but I think I can do that later."  
"You would renounce on your oh-so-loved library for me?", Sirius laughed and Remus nodded.  
"Wow. Thanks Moony.", Sirius smiled.  
"Don't thank me. I must thank you for coming with me.", Remus answered and packed his stuff in his bag.  
"I had no choice.", Sirius said and held up their cuffed hands. Remus laughed lightly and they made their way back to Gryffindor tower. The common room was empty, no sight of James or Peter anywhere. Nor in their dorm room.  
"Where are they?", Sirius asked and Remus shrugged.  
"Want to go to Hogsmeade?", he asked and swallowed heavily. Sirius smiled. His heart skipped a beat and he blushed. What's wrong with him? Remus only asked him to go to Hogsmeade. Why was Sirius like that? Merlin's beard, he was madly in love. With all effort, he nodded. Then, he found his inner Sirius Black again, smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. Remus laughed.  
"Padfoot! Stop it!", he laughed. Sirius laughed too.  
"We're not going to Honeydukes.", he said.  
"No way!", Remus argued and crosses his arms in front of his chest.  
"Oh, yes. Remember, you have no choice." Sirius held up his hand and grinned.  
"Why?", Remus whined, "Why are we not going?" Sirius laughed.  
"Because you get all cringey about the tons of chocolate there." Remus sighed.  
  
On their way down to Hogsmeade, Sirius asked:"Do you already have a Christmas present for me?" Remus looked at him.  
"To be honest... no. But I already have an idea what I'm going to buy you.", he answered, "Do you have one for me?"  
"Not yet.", Sirius answered shortly and looked straight ahead. Remus nodded and walked wordlessly next to Sirius. Sirius felt awful. He knew exactly what he was going to get Remus. He already had half of the present, but the other half is still missing.  
"After you.", Sirius said and opened the door to the Hog's Head. Remus smiled and entered. They sat down on a table and ordered something to drink. "Padfoot, I'm hungry. Why can't we go to Honeydukes?", Remus asked whiney. Sirius laughed.

"Monny, my dear friend. You know yourself very good, I guess, and you're the smartest person I know. So tell me, why wouldn't I like to go to Honeydukes with you?"  
"Because... maybe because... God, Padfoot, I don't know!"  
"Because you get all sloppy about that chocolate and you stay in there for hours, not knowing which chocolate you should buy. So no, we're not going to go to Honeydukes.", Sirius answered and laughed. Someone clapped on Remus' shoulder.  
"Oi, mate. There you are.", James said and sat down opposite of him. Peter sat down next to James.  
"We've been looking for you!", Peter said.  
"Wanna go to Honeydukes?", Remus asked with a sweet smile. Sirius shook his head violently, but Peter agreed.  
"Yeah, sure.", James said and Sirius sighed. Remus laughed and sipped the rest of his drink.  
"Come on, Pads.", he said and took Sirius' hand, "Let's go to buy chocolate." Sirius sighed again. He followed Remus, James and Peter out of the pub and together they walked down the street.  
"What were you doing?", James asked and wiggled his eyebrows at Sirius.  
"We've been in the library.", Remus answered.  
"Studying?", Peter asked in disbelief.  
"No, Wormtail. Snogging. Pushing each other against the shelves.", Sirius answered and laughed at Peter's horrified face. James laughed too and opened the door to Honeydukes.  
"Have fun, love.", Sirius smiled at Remus, whose eyes were glowing. He walked over to one shelf with boxes of chocolate. "Hey, Moony, wait!" Sirius stumbled behind Remus, who forgot about the handcuffs.  
"Sorry, Padfoot.", he said and walked more slowly.  
  
  
"God, I can't believe, you bought five boxes of chocolate.", Sirius said and Remus laughed.  
"You do believe that.", James said.  
"They're not even tasty.", Sirius said.  
"Not as tasty as you, obviously.", Remus said. Sirius blushed hardly and James whistled.  
"Oi, Moony! Why so naughty?", he laughed and Remus shrugged grinning.  
"Don't blame him. He'd spent the while day woth me, no wonder he's naughty.", Sirius said.  
"Right. How come i not thought about that?", James answered. Peter named the password and the portrait opened. They stepped in and James sat down on the red couch.  
"Have you seen Snivellus today?", Sirius asked. James and Peter shook their heads.  
"No. Not even Lily. This day was awful.", James said and Sirius laughed.  
"Mate, you don't have your hands tied together with Padfoot.", Remus said. They laughed.  
  
After a while, James and Peter went to sleep.  
"So, Moony, what do you get me for Christmas?", Sirius asked and slid closer to Remus, so their arms touched.  
"No chance of me telling you, Padfoot. No chance.", he answered and snuggled closer. Sirius smiled. Remus' cheeks were burning and his heart was beating loudly, so he thought, Sirius could hear it. They sat there for a long time, not talking, just staring at the fire and enjoying the warmth of each other. It was not an embarrassing silence, it was a comfortable silence. Remus smiled to himself, as Sirius layed his head on Remus' shoulder.  
"Moony, I'm tired.", Sirius said after a while and looked up at Remus, who nodded slowly. He was tired too, but he didn't want to stand up and go up to their dorm, instead, he wanted to stay on the couch, in front of the crackling fire, with Sirius right next to him and Sirius' head on his shoulder. But he stood up anyway and they walked up in their room, where the curtains of James' and of Peter's bed were closed.  
"Um... How are we going to undress?", Sirius asked. Remus had not thought of it, but now that they were standing here, face to face in the dark, both wanting to sleep, but their hands cuffed together, it came to his mind. Remus smiled nervously and took out his wand. He mumbled a spell and their clothes, apart from their boxers, vanished from their bodies and were folded on a chair.  
"Wow, I need to remember this one.", Sirius laughed, "Can it dress us?" Remus shook his head.  
"No, only undress." Sirius shrugged.  
"So, we need to sleep in underwear...", he said and scratched the back of his head. Remus nodded.

"Well, then...", he said nervously. Sirius smiled encouragely. Remus hesitated, then smiled too.  
"Come on, love.", Sirius said and sat down on his bed, "Jump in." He grinned cheeky and Remus laughed.  
"Of course, Pads.", he answered and lay down next to him. Sirius pulled the blanket over the two of them. Remus shivered.  
"Are you cold?", Sirius asked.  
"Yeah, a bit.", Remus answered. Sirius put his arm around Remus' waist and pulled him closer. Remus lay on his side and put his head on Sirius' chest. He listened to his heartbeat and closed his eyes. Sirius drove his fingers through Remus' tawny hair and Remus got goosebumps. He loved this. He loved everything right now. He loved Sirius. So much. But he couldn't bring himself to say it. It was impossible.  
" _I'm such a coward!_ ", Remus thought, " _But fuck, I'm still too cold!_ " As though Sirius had read his mind, he pulled Remus even closer. He smiled at Remus and drove his fingers over one big scar at Remus' chest. Remus flinched and Sirius jerked his finger away.  
"Sorry.", he muttered. Remus looked at him.  
"No, it's just... I don't know this feeling." Sirius Didn't even blink. "But I like it.", Remus added and took Sirius' hand. Remus put one of Remus fingers on the scar, to signalise him, that he should continue. Sirius got it and smiled. He drove his finger over the scar.  
"I love your scars, Moony.", he said quietly.  
"Why?", Remus asked, but it was too late. Sirius already fell asleep. Just like that. Remus smiled.  
"I love you, Sirius Black.", he whispered and continued listening to the beat of Sirius' heart.  


**Chapter 9**  
James woke up sleepily. He walked over to Sirius' bed and pulled back the curtains, to find Remus and him laying there, their legs entangled and Remus' head on Sirius' bare chest and Sirius' left hand on Remus' bare waist. James grinned.  
"Task two, check.", he said to himself and went to shower. After he finished and dried his hair with a towel, he went down into the common room.  
"Lily!", James said and smiled. Lily rolled her eyes.  
"Potter.", she answered annoyed and looked away.  
"What are you doing today?"  
"Something with... anyone else.", Lily answered.  
"Ooh, good one, Evans. Good one. But no, honestly, would you like to go I've ice skating with me?"  
"With you alone? No chance. With you and someone alse? Also no chance."  
"Please? Why not?", James asked whiney. Lily scoffed.  
"I need to go, Potter. Bye." With these words, she turned around and walked out of the portrait hole. James sighed.  
  
  
Sirius smiled. Remus' hair tickling his chin had woken him up.  
"Moony.", Sirius said and shook the boy next to him slightly. Aw, he was so cute when he lay there, sleeping. "Moony." Remus moaned and slid away from Sirius. "Moony!", Sirius said once more, this time more excited.  
"What's up, Pads?", Remus asked, but didn't open his eyes.  
"The handcuffs are gone!", Sirius said, maybe a bit too loud, because Remus pulled a face and pushed a pillow over his ears.  
"What?", he asked.  
"The handcuffs are gone!",Sirius repeated. Remus opened his eyes and stared at his hand.  
"They are!", he said, "They really are!" He laughed with Sirius and then stood up. "We need to dress and go to breakfast." Sirius agreed and stood up too.  
  
  
James couldn't believe it.  
"How did you get rid of the handcuffs?", he asked in disbelief, as Sirius and Remus sat down next to him in the great hall.  
"I don't know. They just vanished over night.", Remus answered and drank from his juice. James stared at the two of them.  
"I... I don't believe it!", he said. And he really didn't. He really didn't believe it.  
"Whats wrong? How did we get rid of them?", Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.  
"Oh, they vanish over night, but I didn't expect the spell to work.", James lied quickly. Wrong. Not true. Lie. The spell James had put on the handcuffs was a more complicated spell. And after long time searching in the restricted section of the library and long time reading a lot of books, he found the perfectly fitting spell. A spell, wich let the handcuffs vanish, when specific  emotions were set free. James chose the emotion LOVE. And yes, the handcuffs vanished. _So that means... It really means... They really are... it... WOW!_ James is both, proud that his spell worked and nervous, now that he had double proof, that his two best friends love each other. Once the Amortentia test, and now the complicated spell. Wow.

"Hey, guys. Do you have any plans for today?", Peter asked, as he came back from Adriana from the Ravenclaw table.  
"I wanted to go ice skating.", James said and shrugged. The other three looked at him.  
"Yeah, nice idea, Prongs.", Remus said.  
"Yo, mate, I'm with you.", Sirius agreed happily.  
"Good idea, Prongs.", Peter said. James smiled.  
"Let me guess, you want Evans to come with us?", Sirius said and rolled his eyes. James nodded slowly. Yes, he wanted Lily to come too, but not with _them_ , with _him_. Well, but she wasn't going to come. Not with _them_ , nor with _him_. So, he's going alone with his friends. Fun.  
  
  
"Hey, Sirius.", a small girl said, as they walked back to Gryffindor tower, where they were going to get their cloaks and scarfs and gloves.  
"Hey, Amanda.", Sirius answered and smiled. Peter looked at him. Sirius was friendly to five sceific first-year girls, but this girl wasn't one of them.  
"Padfoot, how often are you meeting these girls?", Peter asked and looked at Sirius.  
"What? Oh, not much. We're eating together sometimes, and I see them on the hallway every day. And sometimes in the common room, we hang out, but not that much. We've been on the field lately. But no, I'm not meeting them very much." Peter nodded. For him, it sounded like it really was much. Very much. But, well, Sirius was different than Peter. Everyone of the Marauders was diffrent. Sirius, in Peter's sight, was scary, he was cool though, but scary. Remus was quiet and sleepy, he was scary too, but just at his 'time of the month'. James was the coolest of everyone. He was cooler than the world. He was Peter's hero. One day, Peter wants to be like him. That'd be everything for Peter, because James is his very best friend. And Peter, well, he was Peter. He was the rat boy, who didn't get anything, but one time, he was going to be like James. And then he would be cool too. But Peter always felt like the left out Marauder. He wanted to be part of it, really part of it. Like the other three. But, well... Peter pushed the thoughts away and shook his head. He put on his gloves and his snow boots. So did the others and they all packed in their skates.  
  
"I'm hungry.", Peter said on their way down to the lake. James laughed.  
"You're always hungry, Wormtail.", Sirius said laughing. Peter shrugged grinning and agreed.  
  
  
"Evans!", James said loudly. Lily sat on the bank next to the lake and tied her skates. She looked up, her beautiful red hair falling down on in her face. She ignored him and stood up. Her hair flew in the wind as she skated over th ice.  
"Not bad.", James said and skated over to her. She was still ignoring him, but he didn't care. "Ready for a spin?", he asked. Lily looked at him, her gemstone green eyes fixed on his face.  
"Mhm.", she said shortly. James smiled and his heart thummed against his rip bones.  
"One.", he counted and took Lily's hand, "Two. Three." He spun her around and she landed softly in his arms. Before something more could have happened, Sirius came from the side, screaming.  
"Prongs!", he shouted and with a _crash_ they all landed on the frozen lake.  
"Honestly, guys.", Sirius said and shook his head, "You need to watch where you're skating." He looked at James, who looked at Lily, who stood up angrily.  
"Lily.", he said and reached for her arm, but she jerked it away.  
"Don't touch me, Potter.", she said amd skates off the lake.  
"Thanks mate.", James turned to Sirius and stood up too. He shook off the snow and walked after Lily.  
"Evans!", he shouted, "wait up!"  
"I'm not in the mood, Potter.", she answered without looking at him. James catched up with her and smiled.  
"Can I interest you in a cup of hot chocolate?", he asked. Lily looked at him.  
"Having it with you would cancel  it though."

"Come on, Evans. I bet I can make you smile if you'd let me to." Lily crossed her arms in front of her chest.  
"Well, go on then. Make me smile and I'll let you  buy me a drink." James smiled satisfied. He thought of a good joke, when he had one, he said:  
"What's black and white and greasy all over?" Lily didn't smile.  
"Potter.", she said and crunched with her teeth. But James had no intention to say something about Severus.  
"The Daily Prophet that morning while Sirius was eating sausages.", he said and watched Lily's mouth twitch into a light smile. She blushed and covered her mouth with her hand, but James could see that she was still smiling.  
"Bad luck, Evans. Now were going to drink something.", James grinned at her and she rolled her eyes.  
"To be clear, I only laughed because it was so stupid.", Lily said. James laughed.  
"Come on my lady.", he said and held out his arm.  
"Forget it, Potter.", Lily said and walked off. James laughed and followed her.  
  
In the Hogs Head, they sat down and looked out of the window. The waiter brought them two cups of hot chocolate and James took a sip.  
"You have pretty nice, hair, Evans.", he said.  
"Potter. I'm sitting here with you, don't exaggerate it.", Lily said and he grinned. They drank their cacao and talked a bit. James never felt so happy in his whole life. But one thing still stuck in his mind...  
"Evans?", he said carefully, as they walked back to the castle, "Was this a date?" Lily looked at him.  
"Um...", she answered, "I thinks so, James." By the sound of his first name, James felt a rush of heat on his cheeks.  
"That's... cool.", he said. _Cool? God damn it, James, you can do better than that!_ Well, obviously he couldn't. Lily smiled.  
"Yeah. Cool.", she said. James was deep in thoughts. Was he now allowed to take her hand? What if she rejected? Would he ever be happy again? Was she serious about that being a date? Or was she just kidding? Thousands of questions bopped up in James' head, that he thought it might burst.

  
**Chapter 10**  
Two days later. Two days before Christmas. Sirius, Peter and James ran laughing though the corridor, until they came to a halt in front of Remus, who stood there in the corridor looked at them questioningly.  
"What have you done?", he asked suspiciously.  
"Nothing.", Sirius answered hastily. A loud _bang_ came from the end of the hallway.  
"Apart from that.", James said. And a voice rang through the corridor.  
"BOYS!", it was McGonnagal.  
"And that.", Peter said grinning. And before the boys could do anything, Professor McGonnagal was standing in front of them, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Sirius turned to look at his friends.  
"Boys, it's time to initiate escape plan 3.56 dash B bracketed column twenty three underlined paragraph 16 highlighted text twelve...", he said, but was interrupted by McGonnagal, who asked:  
"What are you trying to do, Mr Black?" Sirius turned around to watch the other three Marauders run away in three different directions. He smiled at her sheepishly.  
"Distract you.", he answered and ran in another direction. McGonnagal looked after him and smiled to herself.  
"Merlin, never let them get older.", he said and shook her head smiling, then she walked back to her office.  
  
"Guys, this was great!", Sirius said and clapped Peter on the shoulder, "That was really great!"  
"Yeah, I never expected that it's going to work!", James said happily. Peter nodded.  
"We are too clever.", he said.  
"You just pulled me into a thing I had nothing to do with, but I'm still proud that our plan worked out!", Remus said and smiled.  
"That's my man.", James said and gave Remus a high-five. Sirius laughed.  
  
  
"Hi, Sirius.", Amanda said on their way to the great hall.  
"Hey.", Sirius answered. Once the four of them entered the hall, the five first-year girls ran towards them.  
"Sirius!", Emilia said excitedly, "Can you come and sit with us? We need to talk to you!" Sirius smiled at her.  
"It's important.", Sarah said and nodded. Sirius looked at Remus, who shrugged.  
"Yeah, I'm gonna sit with you.", he said and smiled.  
"We'll wait for you afterwards,  Padfoot.", Peter said and Sirius strode off with the five girls.

  
"What do you want to tell me?"  
"Sirius, sit down please.", Ruby said with a frown on her face. Sirius did as he was told and after Phoebe offered him some food, he started eating. Emilia breathed out and folded her hands on the table. She looked at Sirius.  
"Did you talk to your big crush?", she asked with a serious look. Sirius swallowed and nodded.  
"Yeah... um... no." The girls sighed and Sarah clapped her flat hand on her forehead.  
"You idiot! Why not?", she asked and Sirius shrugged.  
"Don't call me idiot.", he said.  
"Christmas is in two days! Get up and ask him out for heaven's sake!", Ruby said. Sirius shook his head.  
"No. No way."  
"Why not?", Emilia took a bite from her bread stick.  
"Because he's definitely not in love with me."  
"How do you know, when you haven't even asked him?", Phoebe asked.  
"Well... I just know. I would destroy our friendship just because I'm too stupid! I'm such a fucking coward!"  
"You're not. Well, you're an idiot. But clearly not a coward. You're Sirius Black, come on.", Sarah said encouragely. Sirius smiled.  
"Thanks, girls. I'll think of something.", Sirius said.  
"Do that. And now, go to your friends." Ruby shooed him away. Sirius laughed and caught up with the others.  
"And? What was so important?", James asked interested. Sirius shrugged and grinned mysteriously. Out of what reason ever, James understood him and nodded. Remus looked between the two of them confused.  
"What? What is it?", he asked. James laughed.  
"Nothing, Moony. Nothing."  
"I know that there's something. Tell me!", he said and pushed his under lip forward. Sirius smiled.  
"Nothing, Moon-Pie.", he said and put his arm around Remus' shoulder.

  
_**Chapter 11**_  
One day before Christmas. James stood up. This evening will probably be the hardest of his friends' lifes. It was early in the morning. Again.  
"Where's that little bottle? Where's that little bottle?", he sung quietly and crammed in his bedside table, where he found a small vial filled with silverish liquid.  
"Ahh, there you are.", he whispered to himself and looked at the bottle, the he looked at his friends. He grinned evil. Silently, James tip-toed to Sirius' bed. Sirius' mouth was open a gap and James pured three drops of the option in his mouth. Sirius mumbled something incomprehensible and swallowed. James nodded and walked over to Remus. Same process. James was pretty satisfied with himself.  
"Good.", he told himself and lay back down.  
_Today will be fun._ , he thought and drifted off to sleep.  
  
"Good morging, my friends.", James said and grinned at them cheekily.  
"James, what's wrong?" Remus asked and pulled up one eyebrow.  
"Oh, my dear Moony, Padfoot. You are now part of an ingenious experiment.", James answered, still grinning at the two boys in front of him.  
"What have you done?", Sirius asked.  
"While you were sleeping, I felt free to feed you a potion." Sirius narrowed his eyes, "Today, exactly at 12 o' clock you two are not allowed to talk to each other anymore. You are not allowed to write notes or send someone to talk for you. In fact, you have to pretend, the other one isn't even existing."  
"What has the option to do with that?", Remus asked.  
"If you should fail to do so, the potion will make your hair grey and greasy and you'll get red dots all over your face.", James explained with a suspicious smirk.  
"You little...", Sirius trew himself on James.  
"Sirius! Stop it!", Remus said and pulled him away, "It doesn't help." Sirius breathed out and James laughed.  
"Stop laughing!", Sirius said, "What do you think?" James kept laughing.  
"Sirius, calm down.", Remus said.  
"Yes, Sirius. Calm down. At 12, we'll meet in the common room." Once the sentence was spoken, James hushed out of the room. He giggled to himself.  
  
  
Sirius sighed and sat down on his bed.  
"I'm sorry, Pads.", Remus said and sat down next to him. Sirius looked at him. What was Remus sorry for? James was the one who forced them not to talk anymore. At 12 o' clock. Sirius sighed. It's going to be the worst day ever. But he will try to enjoy his last four hours with Remus.

"Don't be.", he finally said, "Let's go." Remus nooded and they went down for breakfast.  
  
"How're you doing? ", James said and looked up from his plate.  
"Shut up, Prongs.", Sirius said and sat down. James and Peter laughed. Breakfast rushed by and Sirius decided to guide Remus to the library.  
"Are you serious?", James asked as Sirius offered it to Remus. Remus sighed.  
"James, we had thi-"  
"Hell, yes, I am!", Sirius said and laughed. James gave him a high-five.  
"Well, yes. You can come with me.", Remus said and ignored James' laughter.  
"Cool.", Sirius said and smiled brightly. They left James and Peter in the common room and made their way to the library.  
"Hello Madame Pince.", Remus said and smiled at the librarian, who wore a red patterned skirt and an ugly brown blouse with pink flowers. She smiled at Remus. Sirius waved at her and grinned. She frowned at him. Sirius chuckled.  
"Shut up and sit down.", Remus said strictly, but smiled. Sirius laughed and sat down on the chair next to Remus.  
"So.", Sirius said and watched Remus, "What are you going to read?" Remus smiled.  
"Whatever I find.", he answered. Sirius smiled back.  
"I'll find you something.", he said, "And you'll find me one." Remus smiled and nodded.  
"Be ready.", he said and stood up, so did Sirius. He swung his black hair back and grinned.  
"But look for something, what might interest me.", he said.  
"Of course, if you will.", Remus said and laughed. Sirius walked through the shelves. With his finger, he runs over the sides of the books until he found one called _Death Omens: What to Do When You Know the Worst is Coming_. Sirius smiled and pulled out the book. Remus was very interested in Death Omens, but Sirius hoped that Remus hadn't already red this book. He walked back to the table, where Remus waited for him, a book with a brown leather cover in front of him. Remus smiled at Sirius, who sat down.  
"Here, Moony.", he said and pushed the book towards him.  
"Thanks, Padfoot. I've got this one for you."  
  
  
Remus knew that Sirius was really interested in Muggles, mostly because Remus' parents were Muggles, so he took out a book called _My life as a Muggle by Daisy Hookum_. Sirius smiled. Without saying a word, he flipped open the book and started reading. Remus laughed and read too. Every now and then, he looked over to Sirius, who didn't even notice it. He was sunken in the book. Remus smiled to himself and kept reading. After about ten minutes, he couldn't resist anymore and looked at Sirius. No, he stared. Sirius' shoulder long black hair was falling over his face, his nose almost touching the page of the book. His grey eyes shone and rushed over the words. Remus lost himself in Sirius' grey eyes. In those eyes, he was not allowed to look in, after 12 o' clock. Shit! Remus looked away and checked his watch. Two hours.  
"Padfoot?", Remus said carefully. Sirius looked up at him with big eyes.  
"Something wrong?", he asked and Remus shook his head.  
"No... but...", he looked at his watch again. Sirius understood.  
"Don't worry, Moony. We still have time. Besides, we're not forbidden not to talk for the rest of our loves, and if we are, I will risk grey hair and red freckles." Remus laughed weakly.  
"For me?", he asked and smiled.  
"For you." Remus felt himself blushing and quickly looked down at his book.  
"Thanks, Padfoot." Sirius smiled. Remus pretended to be reading for a second, then looked at Sirius, who was back at his book again. Remus smiled and flipped the pages. He was going to miss Sirius. Yes. So missing him. Remus shook his head. He was still feeling like that, even though he knew he shouldn't. Sirius was his best friend, he was not supposed to be more than just that, and he wouldn't want to be more than that. So Remus had to stop imagining himself with Sirius, because that was never going to happen. Remus knew it. Firstly, because he was such a coward and too afraid to tell Sirius what he felt and secondly, because Sirius was definitely _not_ feeling the same. Remus sighed loudly.  
"Everything alright?", Sirius asked and looked at Remus  worried.

"What? Oh, yes. Of course.", Remus lied quickly, "Do you want to get out?" Sirius smiled and nodded.  
"Can I take it with me?", he asked and pointed at the book.  
"Mhm.", Remus answered, "I'll take mine with me too. We need to go to Madame Pince." Sirius sighed.  
"Why?", he asked and Remus laughed.  
"Because we need to tell her that we're taking the books with us, so she's not looking for it.", he explained. Sirius sighed again.  
  
"You're taking this with you, Remus?", Madame Pince asked and smiled at Remus. He nodded.  
"And Sirius is taking this one with him.", Remus said and shoved the book towards the librarian. She looked at the smirking Sirius.  
"Very nice blouse, Madame.", Sirius said. Madame Pince narrowed her eyes and pushed the book back to him.  
"Have a nice day.", she said coldly. Remus giggled slightly and he and Sirius left the library. Sirius made choking noises and laughed at the blouse of the librarian.  
"It was so ugly!", he said laughing. Remus laughed too.  
"Indeed."  
"Hey, where we speak of ugly...", Sirius pointed at Severus, who is leaning against a wall, holding a book in his hands and his hooked nose close to the page.  
"Padfoot, don't.", Remus insisted, but Sirius didnt listen to him.  
"Hey, Snivellus!", Sirius said loudly. Severus looked up from his book and scowled.  
"Black.", he answered shortly. Remus stood quietly behind Sirius. "Hanging with the werewolf, are you?" Sirius narrowed his eyes. He was one second away from hexing this stupid bastard in front of him.  
"What did you say?", he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.  
"A Black and a werewolf, what a perfect duo.", Severus said, "You Blacks are not better than this monster!" Without the other two noticing, Remus grabbed his wand and pointed it at Severus.  
"STUPEFY!", he shouted. A blue stream of light came out of the tip of his wand and Severus was blasted back. He lay on his back, stiff as a plank and unable to move.  
"Wow, Moony, that was cool.", Sirius said.  
"Thanks.", Remus breathed. They looked down at the Slytherin.  
"Shall we leave him here?", Sirius asked and looked at Remus, who shrugged.  
"Yup. Someone will find him.", he answered and grinned.  
"Let's go back.", Sirius laughed. Remus nodded and laughed too.  
  
"Guys! You won't believe what happened!", Remus said, once they entered the common room. James and Peter looked at him. "Sirius read a book!"  
"No! Impossible!", Peter said and gasped.  
"You can read?", James said and laughed.  
"That's harsh, Mr Potter.", Sirius answered, but laughed too, "But more interesting is, that Moony stunned Snivellus.", he reported.  
"He did what?", James asked with wide eyes. Remus laughed and shrugged.  
"Well, he was an arse."  
"He's always an arse, Moony.", Peter said. Remus just shrugged once again.  
"Wow, guys. Today is a day full of surprises.", James said and looked at Sirius, who narrowed his eyes. Remus sat down on the couch. He looked at his watch. 1 and a half hour. Remus sighed.  
"Moony, you're alright?", Peter asked.  
"Yep. Alright.", Remus answered and sighed again.  
"You don't look like you're alright.", Sirius said and sunk in the leather next to him. He put his arm around Remus' waist and pulled him in a hug. Remus sniffed. Sirius shot James and Peter a look, to signalise them, they should leave. "If you're going to cry, I'll kill James.", Sirius said. Remus laughed slightly.  
"I'm not going to cry. I'm not a child. I will go through this.", he said and looked at Sirius. They're noses were almost touching, Remus could kiss Sirius now so easily. But that'll ruin the moment and the future, so he looked away.  
"I'm sorry, Moony.", Sirius said suddenly. Remus looked at him.  
"You told me not to be, so I tell you. Don't be sorry, you have no reason. James is the one who should feel sorry." Sirius nodded.  
"I just... I don't understand him. A few days ago, he forced us to spend the whole day together with our hands cuffed, and now, he forces us to ignore each other. That s just..."  
"James.", Remus ended the sentence, "That's James." Sirius laughed.  
"Yeah, well, he's a troublemaker, isn't he?" Remus nodded. "He is."

  
**Chapter 12**  
"In exactly one minute will be 12 o' clock. So I will say a few words.", James announced, "You know the rules. No talking to each other, no writing notes, no sending other people, no staring. Only pretending, the other one doesn't exist." Sirius sighed and looked at Remus, who stood on the other side of Peter.  
"You won't be allowed to talk till exactly midnight. If you fail, you know what will happen.", James said. He looked at Remus and Sirius, then at his watch, "Now, please." Remus and Sirius looked at each other. Sirius smiled encouragely.  
"Only till midnight. Only twelve hours. That's ok. It'll be ok.", Sirius said and hugged Remus tightly. Remus felt awful. This was the last thing he was going to hear or feel from Sirius for tweve hours.  
"Now, it's time.", James said and Remus and Sirius partened. Without saying a word, Remus hushed out of thw common room, banging the portrait shut and ran down the stone stairs. He pushed a few students out of the way, but he kept running. He ran in the seventh floor, to the Room of Requirement. Once the door closed, he broke down in the floor and started crying. He didn't cry because he wasn't allowed to talk to Sirius anymore, he was used to it from their little fights, but he cried because of all the pressure. He was too afraid to tell Sirius that he loved him, he was too stupid to love him, he was such a coward! It felt awful to know that Sirius doesn't feel the same. And now he's sitting here, crying lije a five-year old. Remus slapped himself.  
"Stand up!", he told himself sternly, "You're so stupid!" He stood up and wiped away his tears. Remus walked out of the room again and down to the great hall. Everything felt so empty. He searched for a reason why he could hate Sirius, but right now, it felt impossible. Remus' face lit up as he saw a familiar red head at the other end of the corridor.  
"Lily!", he said, but then quietened. She was not alone. There was a boy with short black hair, which looked like he'd never combed it before. James, of course. But... Remus hid behind a corner. There was a third head. Wonderful black hair, shoulder-long, shining in the light of the candles. Sirius. Remus sighed. He was alone. He stormed off to the tower and grabbed his new book, with which he went to the library.  
"Remus, nice to see you again.", Madame Pince said. Remus put on a fake smile, which might have looked like a grimace, and sat down on the stool, he always sits on. He opened the book and started reading. He read for a long time. A really long time.  
  
  
"Guys, I think I'll go and read something.", Sirius said. Lily looked at him with her mouth wide open.  
"Yeah, Rem got him a book and he can't stop reading.", James explained.  
"Where is Remus, by the way?", Lily asked.  
"No idea.", James answered and shrugged. He looked at Sirius.  
"Well...", he said and left to pick up his book. He was not going to cry. He wasn't. Not again. He had already cried that week, which was enough. He strode off to the library, where he searched for silence. Sirius froze in his step. Was that... _Whyyy_? Remus was sitting on the chair where he always sat, when he was in the library. He was looking so cute. Too cute for Sirius' liking. He leaned his head on his hand and read the book Sirius gave him. He smiled. Sirius couldn't believe how much he wanted to run his fingers through Remus' tawny hair. Sirius missed his hair already. God, what's wrong with him? Sirius sighed and sat down on an empty table near the one Remus was sitting on. Sirius ignored him, or did his best to do so. Every now and then, he glanced over to the other boy, who was completely sunken in his book. Sirius smiled and started reading his own book in front of him. After a while, he felt like he got an allergic reaction to the air of the library because suddenly his eyes got swollen and his throat became sore. He coughed loudly.  
  
  
This coughing... Remus knew this coughing... He looked up and quickly back down again. Sirius. Why was he here? He wanted to get them both in trouble. It was typical Sirius Black. Remus shook his head and  kept reading. Sirius was mental. Bloody mental. He never came to the library without Remus. Never. What came to his mind now? God, he was crazy!

"Hey Black.", Remus heard a girlish voice. He looked up again.  
"Hey... Remus?!", Lily stood in front of him and layed her book down on his table, "Why are you not sitting with Sirius?" Remus shook his head. He didn't know if he was allowed to talk with someone _about_ Sirius, but he didn't want to risk it.  
"Fight?", Lily asked and sat down. Remus shook his head.  
"No offense, Lily, but I would rather not talk about him.", Remus said politely. Lily nodded.  
"So, what're you reading?", she asked.  
"About Death Omens.", Remus answered and held up the book, so Lily could see the cover.  
"Nice.", she said and smiled. Remus was relieved. The time he spent with Lily always passed like mad, so he tried to stay in conversation with her.  
"Everything good with James?", he decided to talk about that topic. Lily nodded.  
"As good as you can call it. I mean, we've been drinking something together, but nothing more.", she told him. Remus closed his book and looked over Lily's shoulder, to see the chair Sirius sat on being empty.  
"You drank something together?", Remus looked back at Lily. She nodded.  
"Yeah, because of a stupid bet.", she said and added at Remus' questioning look:" He bet he could make me laugh and I bet against it, he did make me laugh, so he won and I lost, so he bought me something to drink. We haven't talked very much, just sat there and drank. He complimented my hair, though." Remus snorted.  
"He loved your hair. Can't stop drooling about it.", he laughed.  
"Well, I put very much effort in it, so I hope he likes it.", Lily said laughing, "What do you get me for Christmas?", she asked.  
"Not gonna tell you.", Remus said and smirked.  
"Oh, come on.", Lily said whiney, "Please!" Remus laughed and shook his head. "Okay. Then im not going to tell you what you get."  
"I don't wanna know. That s the whole point.", Remus answered.  
"You're boring.", Lily said and shoved Remus' shoulder. He laughed.  
"Thanks."  
"You're welcome."  
"Why did you come here?", Remus asked.  
"Oh, I just wanted to revise everything we've learned so far and probably read a bit.", Lily answered and smiled.  
"Then go on.", Remus said, "I'm going to read too." Lily nodded and took out her stuff, while Remus opened his book about Death Omens again and continued to read where he last stopped. As Lily began to scribble something down on her notebook, Remus smiled. It was nice to spend time with her, especially when you're not allowed to talk to your one best friend and the other best friend is responsible for it. _I have nice friends,_ Remus decided, _but sometimes they're a bit annoying._ He smiled. _Yep, annoying._  
  
  
Sirius sat down on his bed. He couldn't stand to see Remus and not being able to talk to him. What's wrong with him? He's never been this way. And then Lily came... She made everything worse. Remus was having a good time, a very good time. He had Lily, with whom he could talk about books and classes and exams and being nerdy. But he couldn't talk to Sirius about all that. Sirius Didn't feel very good. Now that he was not allowed no talk to or look at Remus, he realised how much he really liked him.  
_What a stupid feeling._ , Sirius thought, _Really a stupid feeling_. Yes it was, it was the most stupid feeling on earth. Knowing how much you love one person and not being able or allowed to tell them. Why was James like... James? God, why wasn't he just a normal boy? Why was he James fucking Potter? Sirius sighed. He had tried to read the book he got from Remus about Muggles, but his thoughts always swung back to Remus. Goodness.  
"Sirius, think straight!", he told himself with a stern tone in his voice.  
  
  
The hours rushed by.  
"Are you coming?", Peter asked and looked at James.  
"What? Oh, yes. Of course." James stood up from the red leather couch in the  common room and followed Peter out of the portrait hole. They went down in the great hall, where dinner was already waiting for them.

"Hey Pads.", James said and sat down next to Sirius.  
"Where's Remus?", Peter asked.  
"Down there.", James answered quickly and pointed at the end of the table, where Remus sat with Lily and Marlene McKinnon. He laughed hertily at a joke Marlene had told him. Sirius didnt pay attention to James' and Peter's conversation, nor to Remus at the end of the table, laughing his arse off and being happy.  
"Sirius, you're not hungry?", Peter asked as Sirius picked at his asparagus.  
"Nah, I don't like asparagus.", he answered and wrinkled his nose. James laughed.  
"Me neither, mate.", he said and pushed his vegetables to the rim of his plate, "Poison." Sirius laughed.  
"You know, Prongs, a bit of vegetables wouldn't be that bad for you.", Peter said, "It's very healthy."  
"Wormtail.", James answered and laughed, "Do you really think, I eat things that are healthy?" Sirius kept laughing.  
"That's the reason why Lily is so desperately trying to be unhealthy.", he said.  
"Padfoot!", James said shocked and laughed, "Don't say that!" Peter laughed. It was nice to be like that, with his friends, only Remus was missing, but at least Sirius didn't pay all his attention to him.  
  
After dinner they went back to the common room.  
"Wanna play a game?", James asked and pointed at the chessboard.  
"No, thanks. I'm going back to knitting.", Peter answered. He didn't really like wizard chess, he preferred knitting.  
"Padfoot?", James asked and looked at Sirius, who nodded in reply.  
"Okay, mate. I'm going to beat you this time!", Sirius said. James laughed loudly.  
"You've never beaten me, boy. And today you won't start.", he answered. Peter laughed and sat down on the couch, picked up his knitting needles and continued with the left sock.  
"Hey Moony.", James said. Peter turned around. Remus had just entered the common room. He didn't even look at Sirius. What was going on here?  
"Hey Prongs.", Remus looked at Peter, "Wormtail." Peter smiled.  
"What's up?", he asked.  
"Oh, nothing I just came back from dinner. I think I'm going to read something now or... bore myself to death.", Remus answered and sighed.  
"You can sit with me and read.", Peter suggested.  
"Yeah? Thanks. Then I don't have to walk to the library. Thanks, Wormtail." Peter smiled again and Remus hushed upstairs. A minute later, he sat down next to Peter and started reading, Peter kept knitting and Sirius and James played a game of wizard chess.  
"Damn it!", James said and Sirius laughed. Peter didn't turn around to look, what was happening, because if he did so, he would pick himself with the needles. Second, the two of them always commented on their games. So it was nothing interesting.  
"No!", Sirius said. Peter chuckled.  
"Checkmate. Got you little dog!", James said and laughed evil.  
"You're a monster Prongs!", Sirius said but laughed too.  
  
  
And so the evening went on. Peter broke into the kitchen to steal them some food and drinks and Sirius refused to play another game with James.  
"You're just offended because I've beaten you.", James said and laughed.  
"Yup, you're right.", Sirius said.  
  
"Ok everyone! Listen!", James said and climbed a chair. All the ten till fifteen Gryffindors, who stayed there over Christmas, looked at him with questioning looks. "In exactly one minute and ten seconds is midnight." No one applauded, no one made a sound. Of course, no one knew what that all was about. No one but three of them. James, Sirius and Remus. "Would you all count down with me?", James asked. And now everyone nodded, some whispered hastily, but no one said something out loud. James checked his watch.  
"Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven." Sirius looked for Remus, Remus looked for Sirius. "Three. Two. One." In this moment, they found each other.  
"MOONY!", Sirius said and hugged him.  
"Padfoot.", Remus said and pulled him even closer. The others applauded loudly.  
"Merry Christmas.", Sirius said and suddenly, he started crying. Really crying. But not out of sadness (Ok maybe a bit...), butmostly out of happiness.

"I think we should leave now.", James said to the others and they did so. Sirius wondered why they have been awake for so long. But that didn't matter now. He was hugging Remus. But something was still not right. Sirius gently pulled away and looked around. They were alone. Completely alone.  
"Um... do you want to sit down?", he asked nervously and then clapped his palm on his forehead. " _Do you want to sit down? As if this couch belongs to me! Sirius, you idiot! Calm down. It's only Moony._ ", he thought. Remus nodded and laughed slightly. They say down in the red couch in front of the fire. Suddenly, Sirius has no idea what to say. Really none. But he didn't had to. Remus took Sirius' arm and pulled it around his shoulder and snuggled closer.  
"I'm cold.", he said and Sirius smiled. Was he allowed to say something naughty now? He decided that he was not, so he remained quiet. Remus smiled.  
"Damn it!", Sirius cursed.  
"What's it?", Remus asked and got out of the embrace. He looked at Sirius.  
"I need to pee.", Sirius said and regretted it. Remus laughed loudly. "Not funny.", Sirius said.  
"It is!", Remus said laughing, "Go then, little baby." So he did. He ran up to their dorm room and got in. James sat on his bed and watched him.  
"Prongs, what are you waiting for?", Sirius asked and hold his needs back.  
"Nothing.", James answered shortly and shrugged, "What are you doing?"  
"I need to pee.", Sirius said again, but James didn't laugh. He waited for something more. "Moony is down there. We've been cuddling."  
"Cuddling? Padfoot that's so not you.", James said and this time he laughed.  
"I know. God damn it! I'm so fucking in love with him and I can't even tell him. I'm so stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!", Sirius beat himself with his fist against his forehead.  
"Anyways.", he said, "I need to go to the toilet or my pants will be soaked." James laughed again.  
  
  
If Sirius was not going to tell Remus about his feelings, then James will do. Or not. He walked down the stairs and grinned.  
"Hey Moony.", he said. Remus turned around.  
"Oh, hey Prongs.", he answered, "Where's Padfoot?"  
"On the toilet. Didn't want to pee himself.", James answered snickering. Remus nodded. James heard footsteps on the stairs, so he said quietly:" But don't tell him I told you." Remus made a questioning look, then looked at Sirius, who stood in the door frame.  
  
  
"You!", Sirius shouted and pointed at James, "You evil creature!" Remus didn't understand anything.  
"Padfoot calm down.", James said and held his hands up defensively.  
"I won't! You told him! You fucking told him!"  
"Told me what?", Remus asked and looked between Sirius and James, but Sirius ignored him.  
"I didn't.", James said, "Padfoot, I didn't."  
"Don't you dare lying to me!", Sirius shouted.  
"What did he tell me?", Remus tried again, in vain.  
"I wouldn't. Never.", James said, "I swore to you that I wouldn't."  
"I kept telling you I won't tell him! You should just have respected that!"  
"I did!"  
"You did not!"  
"Padfoot, what did he tell me?", Remus shouted.  
"That I'm fucking in love with you!", Sirius shouted at him. Remus was taken aback. Wow.  
"I...", but Sirius had no words. He turned to James, who wasn't there anymore. He vanished out of sight. Remus stood up.  
"You are not.", he told Sirius. Sirius shook his head.  
"I am."  
"You are not.", Remus repeated, but Sirius shook his head again.  
"Blimey, Moony. I love everything you do. Really _everything_! And this is a feeling which is so stange! I mean, good, but strange..." Remus took a step closer.  
"Really?", he asked, "Or is this just a stupid joke of yours again?"  
"No. I swear to Merlin, this is not a joke. A joke would be funny. This isn't funny. This is love." Remus' knees became soft.  
"I love you too.", he whispered. Sirius' eyes lighted.  
"You do?", he asked and Remus nodded. Finally, Sirius closed the space between them and pushed his lips gently against Remus'. The contact was gentle and sweet, nothing like the ravenous first kiss Remus had half expected from Sirius. Their lips moved gently over each other, neither of them  deepening the kiss until Remus lost his balance slightly and pressed forward a little, leaning further into Sirius. Then, they separated from each other. Remus breathed out.

"I would like to ask you a question.", he said. Sirius looked at him. "What would you say if I asked you if I could kiss you again?", Remus asked quietly, hoping his voice sounded casual and not as wanton as he thought it did.  
Sirius grinned.  
"C'mere.", he growled and grabbed a fistful of Remus' robes, effectively pulling him closer to him.  
  
  
All Sirius cared about was how Remus' lips felt against his own, how there was a warm pool of something in his midsection. This time, Remus couldn't keep back a quiet moan as Sirius did wicked things that shouldn't be allowed and then released his lips to make a trek down his jaw. Remus tasted like sweets. Mostly chocolate, but also honey. He tasted as sweet as he was. So sweet.  
Standing upright again, Sirius glanced at Remus and smirked. Beginning with the first button on his shirt, he slowly began to un-button his shirt, revealing tan and scarred skin inch by inch. After that, he carefully un-buttoned his pants and pulled them off, leaving Remus in socks and boxers. His brown wide eyes looked down at Sirius, which only made Remus look more adorable. During all of this, Sirius had kept his eyes trained solely on Remus, watching his eyes clouded with lust. Remus grabbed Sirius and pulled him up in a kiss. During their tongues were fighting, he opened the zipper of Sirius' leather pants. Sirius grinned without parting his lips from Remus', while he opened the buttons on Sirius' shirt. Within seconds, Sirius' fingers were tangled in Remus' hair, and Remus's hands were clasped around the back of Sirius' neck.  
The kiss became more insistent. Every little noise Remus made shot straight south for Sirius. The dark haired boy noted with amusement that Remus was now making 'yummy' noises directed towards him.  
One of Remus' hands began to wander down the other boy's back, sending shivers down Sirius' spine.  
"I want you.", Remus gasped. Sirius opened his eyes.  
"You do?", he asked and Remus nodded.  
"Right now.", he answered. Sirius' eyes widened. He followed Remus upstairs.  
"Do you know a good silencing charm?", Sirius asked. Remus flicked his wand and murmured something and jumped onto the bed. Sirius followed and they closed the curtains.  
  
They continued kissing hungrily. Sirius wasn't sure if his dizziness had anything to do with his arousal, which was so obvious it had begun to hurt, or the limited breath from Remus filling his senses. His friend lightly sucked at an area at the base of his neck, never too roughly. His teeth never came near him. Sirius knew it was inappropriate, but he flushed at the thought of Remus having to hold himself back. Remus stopped for a second, pulling away.  
"How, ah, far...?", he asked, tilting his head. The action was so cute and out of the moment Sirius let out a laugh into Remus' shoulder, who stood there with a puzzled expression.  
"As far as you want, love." Sirius tilted his neck up, exposing himself to Remus.  
"And don't push yourself for me, either, I'm fine stopping anywh-oh." Remus had started kissing him again.  
Sirius couldn't help but let out small little gasps into their kisses. Remus grabbed Sirius' hips to bring their bodies closer together. The shorter boy choked out, bucking against him instinctively.  
"F-fuck," Sirius exclaimed. He heard his friend chuckle, holding his hips firmer. He was peppering kisses around Sirius' pantline now, and Sirius could barely focus on anything else.  
"You're so hot!", Remus said and kissed Sirius everywhere. Sirius felt a wave of heat go through him. His cock twitched. He inched his hands down, letting out an absurd moan.  
  
"Have you ever done this before?", Remus asked.  
"No. Have you?"  
"Neither."  
Sirius licked his lips. He looked somewhere in the vicinity of the hollow of Remus' throat.  "Go slow," he said.  And it turned Remus on so much it hurt. Sirius was going to let him do it.  
Remus shifted, getting between Sirius' legs, which opened for him. He knelt there, looking down at Sirius. He touched his legs, his thighs. They were so strong-feeling. Remus leaned down and kissed him again. He kissed him long and deep until Sirius drew his knees up and apart a little, and then Remus reached between them to find the downy hole, to push just the tip of his finger inside. Sirius' mouth gasped away from his.

"Yeah?" Remus asked.  
"Yeah." Sirius flipped them around, so that Remus lay on the bed and Sirius sat in front of him.  
"Put your knees over my shoulders." Remus complied, his eyes hazy with lust, need and want. After positioning Remus' legs just right, Sirius carefully spread both pale cheek and leaned down to swipe his tongue over the ring of exposed muscle.  
  
Remus withered and moaned on the bed, urging Sirius along with his mumbled phrases. Shaking his head with a small smile, Sirius slid one finger into his lover, and then two, scissoring them open and closed.  
"Pad- Padfoot, I...", panted Remus, having to swallow to get his voice to work again. Sirius gave another lick and scissored his fingers, making Remus stop his sentence and let out a loud moan.  
"Sirius, I’m not going to be able to last!", he was finally able to get out and Sirius chuckled.  
Sirius pulled his fingers free, and Remus gasped.  
"Are you ready?", Sirius asked.  
"I think so.", Remus answered shakily.  
"Yeah?"  
Remus nodded. Sirius smiled.  He slicked up his cock, the touch barely tolerable and yet hardly sufficient. He scooted in closer, bracing himself over Remus, and Remus opened himself up below him. It happened suddenly, the head popping past the ring of taut muscle, and they both gasped. Sirius took a moment to breathe. Remus was so unbelievably tight. Then he pushed forward, sinking deeper and deeper, and Remus reached up, grabbed his shoulder hard, and simply stopped breathing.  
"Are you alright?", Sirius asked and looked down at Remus.  
"Mhm.", Remus said, "Don't stop. Please."  
Sirius stayed still until Remus let out his breath in a rush, and Sirius felt the way give just a little and his cock slipped half an inch deeper. He couldn't help it, he groaned. Loudly. And then, Remus laughed.  
"Merlin, how good the spell is here!", he said out of breath. Sirius laughed too.  
"God, Sirius! Move. Please, move.", Remus said and grabbed his shoulder harder. Sirius inched his hips back and then pressed forward. He braced on both hands now and looked down into Remus' face.  
"Is that okay?", Sirius asked. _Please say that it's okay!_ Remus nodded.  
"God, yes!" Remus pulled his legs up higher and his lashes fluttered closed. Sirius pulled back and then carefully fucked back inside. He did it again. He did it again and again and again, each time taking longer strokes, until Remus was again moaning almost continually, the pain seeming to slip away from him. It was beautiful, and it felt spectacular. So Sirius reared back and started to rut in him, faster and faster. Remus glanced in Sirius' eyes. His hazel brown eyes full of lust and love.  
"I can't," Sirius told him, "Oh God, I can't-"  
But Remus beat him to it, coming hard.  
"Oh, Padfoot, fuck, Sirius, fuck..."  
His arse got so tight it was hard to keep moving, but Sirius didn't need to. His bollocks drew up, and before he could even think about what it all meant, he was coming inside Remus' arse, deep inside, eyes falling closed on the impossible heaven underneath him. Sirius' arms felt weak and he sunk in the bed next to Remus, breathing heavy. Remus chest was rising and falling rapidly. Sirius laughed exhausted, so did Remus.  
"I love you so freaking much!", Sirius said and put his arm around Remus' waist. He kissed Remus' cheek.  
"Do you think James expected us to do this?", Remus asked.  
"Maybe. Maybe he hopes he gets to do the same thing with Evans someday.", Sirius answered.  
"I think so. Then we will be uncles.", Remus said, "You will be godfather, of course." Sirius smiled.  
"Dogfather is more likely.", he said and Remus laughed. Then both of them fell silent. Again, this comfortable silence.  
  
After a while, Sirius said: "You know what? When we're married, I  want like, four dogs." Remus stared at him for a second.

"What did you just say?", he asked and watched Sirius going bright red.  
"What? Dogs. I just said dogs, that s all I said. Four of them." Remus grinned.  
"Sure, Pads. Four dogs." He kissed Sirius on his cheek and rolled over to fall asleep.  


**Chapter 13**  
It was Christmas morning. A wonderful morning for Remus Lupin. He woke up with Sirius pressed to his back, he smelled Sirius and felt him. Close and naked. Too good to ne true. Remus loved everything about Sirius. Really everything. He loved his scent, the scent of cigarettes and mint, he loved his laugh, the laugh that always cheered him up, his recklessness and his infuriating little quirks. Remus especially loved that Sirius was HIS. He loved the way Sirius bared his neck to him in a show of submission. He loved the extra little bits of chocolate messages, Sirius ave him around the full moon. He loved thr way Sirius laughed at his jokes, louder than anyone else. He loved the way Sirius always needed to be touching him, no matter where they were. He loved the way he could reduce his punk rock boyfriend to mush with just one look. He loved the way Sirius instantly turned to him when he entered the room, like no one else mattered. But most of all, he loved Sirius' eyes, bright and grey and they always shone brighter for him. Sirius moved behind Remus and pulled Remus closer to his bare chest.  
"M'ny?", he mumbled sleepy and snuggled his head against Remus' neck, where he placed a soft kiss.  
"Padfoot.", Remus said and turned around. His nose touched Sirius' and he smiled. Sirius opened his eyes and smiled too.  
"You're so cute when you're still half asleep.", Remus snickered.  
"Don't call me  cute.", Sirius said and slid away and inch. Remus laughed.  
"But you are.", he said and kissed Sirius, what seemed to calm him down, because he slid back to Remus.  
"Not as cute as you.", Sirius replied and peppered kisses all over Remus' face.  
"Enough! My ears are already bleeding!", James' voice shouted.  
"Sorry.", Sirius shouted back, then he turned to Remus and grinned. "Oh, Moony. That early in the morning? We should better hurry, before breakfast begins." He winked and Remus understood.  
"Oh, Padfoot. I'm sorry, but I can't get enough of your bloody hands. Place them all over me.", he said.  
"With pleasure.", Sirius said, then he added wispering:" Moan." Remus laughed and did as he was told, why Sirius pressed a hand to his mouth, so James couldn't hear his laughter.  
"Please! Stop it!", he shouted, "Use at least a silencing charm!" Remus laughed and continued moaning.  
"Oh, Padfoot.", he said.  
"Oh, Moony.", Sirius said.  
"Oh, Merlin! I'm leaving!", James shouted and the door was closed with a thud. Remus fell silent and giggled.  
"That was good drama.", Sirius praised.  
"I had a good teacher.", Remus answered and smiled. Sirius kissed him.  
"Thanks.", Remus said and Sirius laughed.  
"Now that we are alone..." Remus knew where he was going and nodded furiously.  
"Yes, please.", he said and blushed. Sirius grinned.  
As skin met skin, sighs and moans filled the room, a fire of passion lit them from within and Sirius and Remus revisited every corner of each other, body and soul. They shook and trembled with effort and emotion. As always all they needed was the other one pushing, taking in, needing.  
Afterwards, Sirius pulled open the curtains and golden sunlight lit his face. Remus smiled. Sirius was HIS.  
"Let's go down and get breakfast.", he said and kissed Sirius' neck. Sirius nodded.  
  
  
"Padfoot, everyone's staring at us.", Remus whispered out of the corner of his mouth, as they entered the Great Hall, hand in hand.  
"Padfoot, even the teachers are staring." It was true. Sirius looked up at the staff table. Professor McGonnagal looked, unlike Sirius had expected, slightly pleased. She looked at James and nodded firmly. Sirius looked at James too and found him nodding back, grinning brightly.  
"I don't care. Let's go.", Sirius said and squeezed Remus' hand gently. Remus followed him to the table. Sirius felt hundreds of students looking at them, but he  ignored the curious stares and sat down next to James.

"Had fun?", he asked with a look that Sirius could identify as uneasiness.  
"Yup. Plenty.", Remus answered casually and put butter on his bread. James twitched lightly, then grinned at Sirius.  
"You know that today's Christmas, right?" Sirius nodded. "Do you have presents?"  
"Of course I have. It's Christmas.", Sirius said, "What makes you think I haven't?"  
"Well", James answered, "none of us had seen you buying anything."  
"I'm good at hiding." Sirius shrugged and Peter snorted.  
"What're we going to do today?", Remus asked.  
"Dunno.", Peter answered and shrugged.  
"Sirius!", a shrill voice shouted through the hall. The four Marauders looked up the table and Sirius hid himself behind Remus.  
"Hiding doesn't help!" Sirius hesitantly turned around. Jessica stood in front of him, her arms crossed, her lips with the horrible pink lipstick pursed and her eyes narrowed. Sirius grinned.  
"Hey Jes.", he said. For two weeks, he managed it to ignore her, but now, it was too late.  
"Don't give me 'Hi Jes'! You...", she pointed at Remus, who looked at her and held up his hands defensively.  
"Don't blame Remus.", Sirius said.  
"Oh, of course I blame him. You couldn't stop talking about him when we were together. Your thoughts always were on him. No matter what I said, you never listened to me, just thought about Remus. Remus here, Remus there.", Jessica said to Sirius.  
"Really?", Remus asked and looked at Sirius, "How sweet." Sirius grinned and kissed him. Jessica shook her head angrily.  
"You arse, Remus Lupin!", she said loudly and suddenly the entire hall fell silent. No one, really no one called Remus an arse in front of Sirius. He stood up.  
"You better get out.", he said threatingly. Jessica crossed her arms.  
"Why should I?", she asked mockingly. Sirius took a step towards her.  
"Just saying.", Sirius said and shrugged.  
"I'm warning you, Sirius.", Jessica said. She pretended to be brave, but Sirius could see the fear in her eyes. He grinned.  
"You're warning me? You should've thought about that before you called Remus an arse." Sirius gripped his wand, what Remus noticed. He took Sirius' hand.  
"Padfoot, she's not worth it.", he said and looked at Jessica. Sirius turned to him.  
"Please. It's Christmas. Sirius, please.", Remus said and smiled hopefully. Sirius let go of his wand and sat back down.  
"Luck.", he hissed to Jessica and continued eating.  
"Coward.", she said before turning around.  
"Fuck off.", James said.  
"Thanks.", Remus said and kissed Sirius' cheek. He smiled, nodded and kissed back.  
"I love you.", Sirius said against Remus' lips and he smiled.  
"Love you too.", Remus answered and pulled away.  
  
After breakfast, they decided to go to the common room.  
"A game?", James asked.  
"Today I'm going to beat you.", Sirius said. James laughed.  
"You wish.", he laughed.  
"Just wait.", Sirius said challenging and sat down. James smirked and sat down opposite of Sirius. They played a long time, James won. Probably because Sirius had his eyes fixed on Remus, who sat with Peter on the couch and read his book. As he had laughed about a joke Peter had told him, James set Sirius checkmate. Remus turned around and grinned at Sirius, who blushed hardly. They went outside to the lake, but had no fun in ice skating because of the cold wind, so they grabbed a hot chocolate and went back to Gryffindor tower. James and Lily talked a bit, mostly she rolled her eyes at him, but James smiled cheekily.  
In the evening, they sat together in front of the fire. James and Lily sat on the couch, Peter in an armchair and Sirius and Remus were cuddled up in the red armchair, which was way too small for the two of them. Remus read again and Sirius casually played with Remus' hair. Sirius had a deep conversation about Quidditch with James.  
  
  
"So.", James clapped his hands, "Presents." Sirius applauded amd kissed Remus on his cheek. "Stop it, Sirius. Now..." James took the first present.  
"For you, my dear friend, Mister Moony.", James said and placed the present in front of Remus.  
"Thanks, Prongs.", he said smiling. James got Remus a book about Quidditch, because Sirius told James that Remus hadn't had a book about Quidditch, but he needed one, so he can be smarter than the others in this subject too. Peter got a new knitting set from James and Sirius got a professional broom servicing kit.

"Now open my presents!", he said. James opened his at first.  
"Nice. Thanks, Pads.", he said and started looking through the Quidditch magazine. Sirius bought him a Secrecy Sensor too.  
"From where do you have it?", Remus asked.  
"Took it from my dad's.", Sirius told him grinning. Remus laughed and shook his head.  
"Open it.", Sirius told him, pointed at a parcel and Remus followed suit.  
"Wow!", he said astonished. Sirius knitted a scarf for him. Pulling it out to examine it, it was long and rectangular with shining white dots in certain patterns.  
"It's- I don't know... I was bored and-"  
"That's not true.", Peter cut Sirius off, "He persuaded me to teach him how to knit a scarf. It was exhausting to teach him." Remus laughed and pressed a kiss to Sirius' lips.  
"What's that?", Remus asked and pointed at the white dots.  
"Y'see, Canis Major is called the Sirius constellation. It's what I'm named after. All my siblings are named after constellations, so I didn't think anything of it. But then I found out that there's a constellation called Lupus, or Lupine, meaning wolf. There's also a book in there, and a smaller sort of guidebook on some popular constellations. I thought you'd like it...", Sirius explained shyly.  
"It's perfect.", Remus smiled and kissed Sirius again.  
"Peter, open yours.", James said. Sirius bought Peter a book on knitting animals and stuff like that and how to infuse magic into knitting to make it do things for you.  
"Thanks, Sirius. It's brilliant!", Peter said happily. Sirius smiled.  
"Now, boys. Open mine.", Remus said and have every of them a parcel. Again, James opened his at first.  
"Thanks Moony.", he said. Remus smiled. He got James Quidditch training balls, which come back when you say a certain word.  
Remus bought Peter new wool. James told Remus what he was buying Peter, so they decided to give him something together.  
Then Peter, then Sirius. Remus grinned.  
"Moony! You got me more of these... comic-things!", Sirius said and took out a pile of comics.  
"Yeah, mom wanted me to buy you more of them, given the fact that you steal mine. She finds it very sweet that you're so interested in Muggles.", Remus answered.  
"Wow.", Sirius said breathlessly and took out a beautiful necklace. The chain was silver, and off it hung two half moons around a whole moon. Inside the whole moon were intricate designs.  
"It's a symbol of protection. At the very least it should go with some sort of outfit." Sirius could swear, he just saw Remus blushing.  
"Its beautiful! Really, thanks Moony.", Sirius said and kissed Remus.  
"I love you.", Remus said and kissed Sirius again.  
"I love you too.", he answered.  
  
  
They all had opened their presents. Lily and Marlene came in amd wished them all a merry Christmas and talked in the other corner of the room. Now was James' time. He grabbed the parcel, which stood behind him and got up.  
"Evans!", he said loudly and got more nervous with every second, even though he had no idea why. Probably because he had never given his crush a gift. Lily turned around, her beautiful long red hair swinging in the movement.  
"Potter.", she answered, "What's up?" James started sweating. He wasn't prepared for this question, so instead of answering, he said:  
"I have this for you." And gave her the neat parcel. She looked surprised and smiled. Marlene nodded and left. James watched her go, while Lily opened the present.  
"Um...", she said. It was a golden snitch. James smiled.  
"It...", he stumbled, "It's a snitch."  
"So I noticed."  
"No, it's not an ordinary one.", James felt more confident, now that he was in a conversation with Lily, even though it wasn't a good one, and now that he could talk about the thing he loves most- Quidditch.  
"Snitches have flesh memories. If you touch it, it will open.", he explained.  
"I'm pretty sure I never touched a snitch before, Potter.", Lily said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, yes, you have. Remember when we were drinking hot chocolate? The cold thing that has been in your coat pocket was a snitch. I put it there. And you didn't really realise it, so it was no trouble for me pulling it out in the pub again." Lily grinned.  
"Smart.", she said and James laughed.  
"So", she said, "What's in there?" James shifted.  
"Find it out.", he said mysteriously. Lily laughed and shook her head.  
"Not now, Potter. This evening. Common room. Ten minutes before midnight.", she said and that was her final sentence. Without waiting for an answer from James, she walked past him and up to the girls' dormitory.  
"What...?" James stood there, puzzled. Then he grinned. Lily wanted to meet him. This night. He couldn't stop grinning, even when he walked back to the other boys.  
"Hey, what happened?", Sirius asked. He sat there with Remus on his lap and his arms around Remus' waist and kissed him every now and then on his neck, then Remus smiled and turned around and kissed Sirius on his lips. James wrinkled his nose every time they did so.  
"Lily.", he said. Sirius groaned.  
"Not agaaain!" James laughed and sat back down on the couch.  
"Yes. Again."  
  
  
It was a wonderful evening. Peter sat with the rest of the Marauders in front of the warm fire in the Gryffindor common room. They'd opened the presents and noe they were just talking. Sirius and Remus were doing this "cute" relationship stuff. Peter was not really used to them being a couple. Yes, they've always been very close to each other and to be honest, Peter and James had bets on who would ask the other one out first. Now they had bets on who said I love you first. James lost his bet. Peter said Sirius would say it first, because even when they think Sirius is a tough guy, on the inside he could be a small boy with even feelings! But James said Remus would say it first, because his inner small boy didn't need to be released. So Peter won. And James lost. And Sirius and Remus were together. A couple. A real one. And the Marauders were quiet. For now. Only four days left and the holidays are over and the trouble can begin. They would plan the next few pranks in the last school-free days and they would think of some more. Peter was super excited. James was talking to Lily, no idea about what, but he told them, that she wanted to see him later. Peter thought that could mean no good, but Remus smiled satisfied and Peter trusts Remus with his instincts, so Peter is relaxed too. Lily's not going to punch I'm in the face... right? Nah, she wouldn't. James wanted Sirius to play chess with him, but Sirius was already taken. From Remus.  
"Hey Peter." Peter turned around and saw Lily, standing in the open portrait hole.  
"What's up?", he asked.  
"There's someone waiting for you.", she answered and Peter stood up. Who could wait for him? Everyone he liked was in the common room. Everyone but...  
"Adriana!", he said surprised and she laughed. Lily closed the portrait and they were alone in the deserted corridor. "What are you doing here?"  
"Oh, me?"  
"Yes, of course you. There's nobody else here."  
"Um... I just wanted to say that I'm very, very, very sorry for how I behaved the last days. I know I've been disgusting to you. And I'm really indescribably sorry.", the blonde girl answered, "Do you forgive me?" Peter laughed lightly.  
"Of course, I do.", he said and hugged her.  
"Thank you. I need to go back now, but I'll see you tomorrow, right?" Peter nodded.  
"Alright."  
"Well, goodnight, Peter.", Adriana said and kissed him on the cheek, before walking back to her own common room. Peter stood there for a second, processing everything that had happened. Then, he grinned and named the password. Now he understood this stupid grin on James' face. Peter sat down on the couch, his three friends looking curiously at him.  
"Who was it then?", Sirius asked.  
"Adriana.", Peter answered, still grinning like an idiot.  
"And?", James asked.  
"She wanted to apologise and to see me tomorrow."  
"Boy! You're in! So definitely in!", Sirius said excitedly.

"Padfoot!", Remus said outraged and slapped Sirius' shoulder. He laughed.

"I'm sorry, Moony.", he said and kissed him. Peter looked away. It wasn't disgusting, really, just uncomfortable. He wasn't used to two of his best friends snogging each other.  
  
  
It was twenty minutes before midnight and James lay awake in his bed. He whispered Lily's name. Again and again and again. Until it was time to get up. He stood up, put on his red house shoes and walked down, super motivated. Lily already sat on the couch. As he walked in, she turned around and smiled.  
"Sit down." And so he did. Yes, he was nervous again. How couldn't he, when Lily looked that beautiful and her eyes reflected the light of the fire and her hair smelled like flowers and her cheeks were so rosy and she was just beautiful? She gripped the small parcel, James gave her earlier that evening.  
"Have you opened it yet?", he asked and Lily shook her head.  
"No."  
"Then do it now."  
"No pressure, Potter.", she laughed. He laughed too and she took the snitch out. It opened at her touch to reveal a single piece of paper. Lily looked at it, then glared at James.  
"What is this?", she asked annoyed. James grinned and shrugged.  
"Find it out." Lily rolled her eyes, but opened the folded paper. James swore a hundred gallons, he saw her smile and blush, but it had vanished the second she looked at him.  
"Are you serious?", she asked.  
"No, I'm James.", he said grinning.  
"James! I mean it." Lily looked him right in the eyes and he slowly nodded. Before he could say a word, she bent forward and kissed him. James widened his eyes in surprise, then closed them. He kissed her and she kissed him! James pulled away and smiled.  
"I mean it too.", he finally said. Lily kissed him again and stood up and the piece of paper flew to the floor. James' scratched handwriting said "I LOVE YOU"  
"I know.", Lily answered and kissed him again, "I love you too." James stood up too and grinned.  
"That's a happy Christmas.", he said and Lily laughed.  
"It is. Goodnight, James."  
"Goodnight, M'lady." Lily laughed and walked up the stairs to her dormitory. James sighed happily and walked back to his own.  
  
  
"Shht!", Sirius hissed to Remus, who lay next to him.  
"What is it?", he asked.  
"James." Sirius had heard someone closing the door of their room and heard James' breathing, which sounded not as steady and relaxed as it was, what meant, James was awake. Remus sat up.  
"Are you sure?", he whispered. Sirius nodded and sat up too. He listened carefully. Someone climbed in his bed. It was the bed opposite of Sirius'- James' bed. Sirius nodded again.  
"It's him."  
"Where has he been?", Remus asked and kissed Sirius' shoulder.  
"I don't know.", Sirius answered and kissed Remus back.  
"Didn't Lily say she wanted to see him?"  
"Yeah, but not that late?!"  
"No idea. Should we ask him?", Remus suggested.  
"Hell, no! Tomorrow, maybe. For now I have a better idea.", Sirius whispered and wiggled his eyebrows. He loved the feeling that he can now kiss Remus whenever he liked. And do other things with Remus... Remus smirked and kissed Sirius. Hard. Then, he gripped his wand and whispered a silencing and locking charm, to prevent James from catching them. Sirius got goosebumps as Remus kissed him. Sirius kissed down his jaw and sucked on the light skin on Remus' neck. Remus slapped Sirius on his shoulder.  
"Do you want me to walk around with..." Before he could even end the sentence, Sirius kissed him.  
"Yup.", he answered and grinned, "You have to walk around with it." Remus sighed.  
"Thank you, idiot.", he said.  
"I'm _your_ idiot." Sirius grinned and Remus rolled his eyes, laughing.  
"Blimey.", he said. Sirius dramatically gasped for air.  
"Outrageous!",Sirius said and kissed Remus all over his body. Remus shivered and giggled.  
"I freaking love your body!", Sirius said and kept kissing Remus' chest. Remus laughed, then cupped Sirius' cheeks and brought him up to his mouth.  
"You know that I hate my scars.", Remus whispered. Sirius immediately stopped kissing him and looked down in these big green eyes.  "I dare you to say that again.", he said sternly. Remus laughed nervously, his eyes full of sudden fear and surprise.

"Why? It's the truth. They're ugly.", Remus said and Sirius lay back down next to him.  
"It's fucking not the truth!", Sirius said.  
"You know I hate it when you swear!", Remus interrupted him.  
"And you know I hate it when you say these things about your scars! They are fucking beautiful and I fucking love you for them!" Remus opened his mouth to protest, but Sirius cut him off.  
"Don't say a word. I swear as much as I want to and you listen to me. Your fucking scars are the most fucking beautiful thing on the whole fucking earth, apart from your fucking cute brown teddy-eyes. Anyways, your scars show how fucking strong you are." Again, Remus wanted to protest, but Sirius didn't give him a chance.  
"Yes, they show what you turn into once a month, but who cares? James doesn't. Peter doesn't. And above all, I don't. I love you. With every single scar and with every month you turn into a werewolf. And I will never stop loving you and you fucking know it. So don't you ever say a thing about your fucking perfect scars!", Sirius finished angrily. He didn't realise, he was nearly shouting at Remus, but now he breathed in and out heavily, he did realise. Remus lay there, looking at Sirius, his eyes wide and he smiled. He smiled!  
"I love you too, Padfoot.", he said and lay his hand on Sirius' cheek, "And I'm sorry." Sirius kissed Remus, who still smiled.  
"Goodnight, Moony.", Sirius said.  
"Goodnight, Padfoot."  


**Chapter 14**  
Holidays were over and the Marauders were better in shape than anyone else in the castle. They had planned a good prank for the start of school, which should be today. James was happy. So were Sirius, Remus and Peter. Lily joined them on the table in the great hall, kissed James on the cheek and grabbed a carrot. After breakfast, they got ready. They all placed themselves in front of Professor McGonnagal's office.  
"Ready?", James asked loudly.  
"Yeah!", Remus said from one side.  
"Sure!", shouted Peter from the other side.  
"As always!", Sirius answered.  
"Great!", James said and together they counted down from ten to one. Remus had had doubts about that prank, because of getting expelled and all these things, but lately, Sirius and James could convince him and now he was fully concentrated. Maybe not completely concentrated with Sirius around, but as much as he could. As they reached the number one, they pulled on a string, which hung from the ceiling. Waterbombs flew onto the floor with a loud _splash_ and, after freezing the water on the floor, the boys ran away. Sirius in one direction, Peter in the other, Remus in a third, and James in a fourth. Even though he couldn't see the others, he knew exactly what they were doing, thanks  to their perfect planning on every tiny detail. So, James took out his wand and flicked it over his head. There was an explosion and the smell of one hundred dead hippogriffs. James coughed and ran away. On the end of the corridor, he met with the others and they ran as fast as they could.  
  
  
"You again.", McGonnagal said and looked at the four grinning boys sitting in front of her, "I wondered when you'd be back."  
"Did you miss us, Minnie?", James asked and wiggled his eyebrows.  
"I never get a chance to miss you. It feels like you're in my office every day.", she answered. Sirius laughed.  
"Two weeks detention. For all of you.", the professor said.  
"Alright, jeez! Don't get-", Sirius was cut off by McGonnagal:  
"What, catty? Were you going to say catty?" Sirius shook his head.  
"I was definitely not going to say catty.", he said, ignoring the snickers from James. McGonnagal looked at him.  
"Okay, then what? What were you going to say?", she asked. Sirius opened his mouth to answer, what took him a bit of a long time.  
"Okay, I was going to say catty. Because you're a cat...", he finally said. James' snickers turned into loud laughter.  
"Alright, Mr Black, Mr Potter. I see you two for two and a half weeks in detention." Sirius sighed.  
"Fine, Minnie.", James said and looked at his folded hands. Professor McGonnagal sighed too and  offered them a bowl of candy. They took one and thanked her. She nodded.

"Well, off you go.", McGonnagal said and placed the bowl back on her table.  
  
"Unbelievable, how she lets us have two and a half weeks of detention.", Sirius said, once the door closed.  
"Given the fact that you used the word catty, I think you could be pretty happy that she didn't give you three or more weeks.", Remus said sceptically. Sirius kissed him and laughed.  
"You know she loves me, Moony.", he said and they headed to the portrait of the fat lady.  
"Not as much as I do.", Remus answered casually and  named the password.  


Chapter 15  
Two days later, Sirius woke up in the arms of his boyfriend. _It feels too good to say that!_ Classes were as boring as always, obviously not for James. Remus and Sirius sat next to each other in potions and watched Lily and James kissing and doing sick stuff.  
"I can't believe he really asked her out.", Remus said.  
"I can't believe she agreed!", Sirius laughed.  
"True.", Remus said and nodded laughing. Sirius kissed him and took his hand.  
"How good that you're right handed and I'm left handed, otherwise we couldn't be holding hands in class.", Sirius said and kissed Remus again. He laughed.  
"I'm sure you wouldn't mind.", he said.  
"I'm sure you don't mind!"  
  
On the evening, Remus slept on the armchair in the common room, with his book on his chest. Sirius, Peter and James came in andthe second Sirius saw Remus, he started singing:  
"A wema way, a wema way, a wema way, a wema way..." Remus slowly opened his eyes.  
"No.", he said, but James already sung:  
"In the jungle-" Remus looked up.  
"No!", he said.  
"The mighty jungle-", Peter sang along.  
"No!", Remus said louder and tried to stop his friends.  
"THE WEREWOLF SLEEPS TONIGHT!", the three of them sang. Remus stood up and glared at them.  
"Go. To. Hell.", he said and vanished upstairs. Sirius laughed.  
"Now you've made my Moony mad.", he said. James and Peter laughed and together they went to their dormitory too.  
  
  
Peter went to brush his teeth, while Sirius jumped on his bed. Suddenly, Peter heard Sirius shouting:  
"Moony, will you kill this spider for me?" Remus laughed.  
"Why? Is the spider trying to hurt you, Padfoot?", he asked.  
"It's on my bed and hurting my heart!", Sirius answered. Peter heard James say quietly:  
"Engorgio." And then, he just heard a loud, horrified shriek from Sirius. Peter laughed loudly and walked back in their room, where he found James lying on his bed, holding his stomach and cringing of laughter, Remus sitting on his bed and watching Sirius, who breathed heavily and hushed out of his bed, jumped into Remus' bed and snuggled closer to him.  
"Moony, kill it.", Sirius said.  
"The poor spider.", Remus answered and laughed.  
"I mean James!", Sirius said and glared at James, who still couldn't stop laughing.  
"I won't kill James!", Remus laughed.  
"Well, you're my boyfriend, you have to."  
"As your boyfriend, I have to kill my best friend?", Remus asked. Sirius coughed.  
"Excuse me? Am I not your best friend?", he asked and crossed his arms.  
"No, you're not.", Remus answered and laughed again, "You're my _boyfriend_." Sirius nodded happily and kissed Remus.  
"How was your date with Adriana, by the way?", James asked and sat up.  
"Pretty good.", Peter said and sat down on his bed, "We've been talking very much..." James laughed.  
"That's not your strength.", he said and Peter shrugged.  
"Not really.", he laughed.  
"Where have you been?", Remus asked.  
"Oh, we've been down on the lake and we've been in the great hall."  
"The great hall? Very romantic.", Sirius said ironically.  
"No, she wanted to go there. She said she wanted to play a game of chess and then she wanted to go up. So we played a game in the hall, I won, and then I was too tired and we left. I went to the tower and she left for her own common room."  
"As I said, very romantic.", Sirius repeated. Remus boxed him on his shoulder.  
"You're not romantic either!", he said and Sirius laughed.  
"No, I'm not. But for you, I will.", Sirius said, "If you want me to.", he added and winked. Remus laughed.  
"Sometimes I do, most of  the time I just love you being you.", Remus answered and kissed Sirius.

"Nice. We'll go on a date tomorrow."  
"Padfoot, we have classes."  
"Not tomorrow.", Sirius jumped from his bed and walked to the door.  
"Where are you going?", Peter asked.  
"To find Evans.", Sirius answered and closed the door.  
"What's he up to now?", Remus asked and let his head fall down into a pillow. Peter laughed.  
"I dont know, but Sirius talking to Lily is not a good idea.", James said.  
"You're just scared that he'll steal your girl.", Peter said mockingly. James looked at him.  
"I don't.", he said and thrust a pillow in Peter's face. Peter coughed, laughed and slapped James back with the pillow. James grabbed another one and slapped Peter.  
"Stop it!", Remus said, but grabbed one himself and slapped the two boys. Quickly, it changed into a pillow fight between the three of them.  
  
  
Sirius had decided to take Remus out on a date the next day, so first, he had to plan what, how and when he was going to do it. So he went to talk to Lily, because she talked a lot with Remus about feelings and this stuff when they were in the library, so she knows a lot about what Remus might like for a date. Sirius went down to the great hall, because James had told them that Lily had told him that Marlene asked her if they should go to the great hall and Lily told James that she agreed. And yes, she sat in the hall on the Gryffindor table, even though Sirius didn't know why, they don't have to sit on this table all the time. Anyways, he walked up to them and coughed to make himself recognised. Lily looked up.  
"Sirius.", she said and Marlene looked up too. She smiled. Sirius and Marlene had a good connection since Marlene, a lesbian herself, knew that Sirius was gay and they talked a lot about the girls and made nasty remarks.  
"Hey, Siri.", she said and Sirius nodded. He would've loved to talk to her, but Lily was the one he needed now.  
"Evans, I might need to borrow you for a second... probably more.", he said. Lily looked at him questioning.  
"Why is that?", she asked.  
"I'm... I take Remus on a date and I need tips.", Sirius explained and scratched his head nervously.  
"Um...", Lily looked at Marlene, who nodded agreeing, "Yeah, I'll help you." Sirius grinned widely and Lily stood up.  
"Alright, we obviously can't go to the common room because Remus might be there, so no matter if I want to or not, we have to go to the library.", Sirius said.  
"As if Remus wouldn't be there.", Lily argued, but Sirius shook his head.  
"No. Remus isn't leaving Gryffindor tower after 8 p.m."  
"Alright. Let's go." Lily lead the way to the library and Sirius followed her.  
They sat down on one table and Lily took out a notebook and a quill with an ink bottle. She folded her hands and looked at Sirius.  
"So, Sirius, what does Remus like the most?", she asked and Sirius felt like he's in an interview.  
"Apart from myself? Chocolate.", he said. Lily smiled and noted the words _Sirius_ and _Chocolate_. Sirius laughed.  
"What else?", she asked.  
"Hmm... he likes books very much.", Sirius said while scratching his chin thoughtfully, "He likes everything that has something to do with education." Lily wrote it down.  
"Think.", she said and so Sirius did.  
"He... he likes to sit in front of a fire and when  everything is silent. He loves it just to sit there and to be loved. I remember in second year, he told me that he liked to go swimming with his parents in the summer."  
"But it's still winter... that could be a bit problematic.", Lily said, "But a good start."  
"I think he likes dancing pretty much, he dances very much and he loves the smell of the night.", Sirius said in thoughts.  
"Alright, that's good.", Lily said and showed Sirius her list. He smiled.  
"What'd you reckon we should do?" Lily thought of it for a minute, then spoke:  
"I think you should take him to the library, where you can lend a book and get back to the common room."  
"Where I have piles of chocolate for him.", Sirius said.  
"Right. Then you should read-"  
"In front of the fire in silence-"  
"And then you go out when it's already dark-"  
"And  dance.", Sirius said and Lily nodded agreeingly.

"Now we just have to prepare everything.", she said.  
They walked back to the common room, which was completely deserted.  
"Good.", Sirius said, "You get the chocolate, I get my jacket and we'll meet here." Lily nodded again and headed off to her dorm room.  
  
  
"Where do you think Padfoot and Lily are going?", James asked and picked at his shirt nervously. He always did this when he was concerned, nervous or unsure.  
"I don't know, but they won't do thing that you wouldn't like.", Remus said comforting and James nodded, still not entirely convinced.  
"Yeah, right. Padfoot's your friend isn't he? And Lily's your girlfriend so there should be no problem.", Peter agreed.  
"You're right.", James said and before he could say something more, the door banged open and Sirius strode in.  
"What're you doing here?", Peter asked.  
"That's my dorm too.", Sirius answered while searching something under his bed.  
"Yes, sure, but weren't you out with Lily?", James asked. Sirius pulled out his black leather jacket and put it on.  
"Where are you going?", James asked, not waiting for Sirius to answer on his first question.  
"Going out.", Sirius answered and opened the door.  
"WITH LILY?", James asked and jumped off his bed. Sirius laughed.  
"Not like you think. Just outside."  
"It's dark!", Remus said and stood up too, "Padfoot you won't go doing something stupid, will you?" Sirius smiled.  
"I'm not, Moony-bear.", he said and kissed Remus and, before he stepped out, he said:  
"I love you." And vanished behind the door.  
"He's mental.", James said and shook his head laughing.  
"Don't laugh, Prongs!", Remus said and sat back on his bed, "He's going to to something stupid, I can feel it."  
"How sweet.", James said casually and lay down on his back.  
  
  
"Got it.", Sirius said as Lily came down the stairs.  
"Good.", she answered.  
"Plan change.", Sirius said and Lily looked at him questioningly.  
"What?", she asked.  
"I think Remus has to give up his books for an evening." Lily still didn't get it.  
"We're not going to sit in the common room and read. That's boring. I think we should talk about that outside."  
"Talk about what, Sirius?", Lily asked.  
"My plan. How I want the date with Remus to look like. I don't trust James.", Sirius said and Lily agreed, so they went outside. Sirius had the Marauders Map in his jacket, so they will know when someone is coming.  
  
"So, what do you want the date to look like?", Lily asked as they went down to the field, where they had been sitting last summer when Severus did the worst thing he could do and called Lily a mudblood.  
"We will go down here when it's already dark, sit in front of the fire and drink hot chocolate. Remus can smell the night, what sounds really wierd when you say it like that, and everything can be quiet. And then we'll dance and after that we can look at the stars.", Sirius said proudly. That would definitely be the perfect date. Lily nodded slowly, thinking hardly.  
"That'll work.", she said, "We just need to bring wood up here..."  
"From the broom shed down on the Quidditch pitch.", Sirius said.  
"And we need blankets..."  
"In the great hall are piles of blankets."  
"Good. What about music?"  
"I don't know."  
"I think I have something for you.", Lily said and grabbed something in her pocket. She pulled it out. It was a little white box with a sort of microphone and a button. Sirius looked at it.  
"What's that?", he asked.  
"That's a sort of muggle-music-player.", Lily explained and pressed on the button. Music started to play.  
"Wow.", Sirius said astonished and took the white thing in his hands. It was light.  
"Where's the music coming from?", he asked and looked at it closely. Lily laughed.  
"It's on a kind of chip.", she explained, "Anyways, you have to push this button, so the music will play and if you push it again, the music will stop." Sirius nodded understanding.  
"Okay.", he said. Lily smiled.  
"So, let's get to get the wood.", she announced and they went to the old broom shed next to the Quidditch pitch and took out a pile of dry wood.  
  
"Perfect.", Lily groaned and clapped her hands together to wipe off the dirt.

"Now the blankets.", Sirius said.  
  
In the great hall, they found a lot of unused candles and Lily decided it would me even more romantic if there would be candles. So Sirius grabbed feeled one hundreds of them and lily laughed. Yes, she was head girl, but the more time she spent with James, the more she became a rebel. She took four of the blankets and they sneaked out again.  
"Good." Sirius placed the candles all around the pile of wood and smiled satisfied. Lily smiled too.  
"Very good.", she said and eyed everything carefully, "I will make the cocoa, so you can be sure Remus will like it."  
"Thanks Evans.", Sirius said. He didn't know if he should hug her or shake her hand, so he decided to do nothing at all, until Lily broke the silence:  
"We should put a protecting charm over it, so no one can ruin our work.", she suggested and Sirius agreed. So Lily took out her wand and cast the spell.  
"Thank you.", Sirius said again. She nodded smiling and they went back to the castle.  
  
  
"Unbelievable how long they're gone.", Remus said. He lay in his bed, his hands behind his head.  
"I know.", James answered, "Weird." He too lay in his bed, in the same position as Remus. Remus nodded without saying another word.  
"Guys!", Sirius' voice sung through the dark. Remus flicked the lights on and sat up, same as Peter and James.  
"Where have you been? You were out for three hours!", Remus said and looked at Sirius, who pulled on his pyjama, without showing any signs of regret.  
"I know. Time flew.", he answered without looking up, "We've been busy."  
"Excuse me?", James said.  
"Sirius, you were busy?", Remus asked. Sirius looked up concerned. Remus knew very well that Sirius wasn't used to the other Marauders saying his name. And Sirius knew very well that some thing was wrong when they did so.  
"Moony, I swear to Merlin, we didn't do anything bad or naughty.", he said and sat down on the edge of Remus' bed. Instead of Remus, James answered:  
"You promise?" Sirius looked at him sympathetically.  
"Yup." Sirius kissed Remus and lay down next to him. The bed was far too small for the two of them, but none of them cared. They never did. Remus flicked the lights out again and the room was quiet. Remus was not far away from drifting off to sleep, when Sirius asked:  
"Can thestrals see each other?"  
"I... wow, I really don't know, mate.", James answered not one second later.  
"I don't think they can... Wait! Listen! The parents lose their first babys and get the ability to ser the next ones. And the babys think the food just appears...", Sirius said.  
"But... Wait. That can't work. How can you have sex with someone you can't see?", James asked. Remus groaned.  
"For heaven's sake, would you two go back to sleep?", he asked annoyed.  
"Sorry Monny.", Sirius answered, kissed him, rolled over and it was quiet again. For like ten seconds, until-  
"Holy shit! CAN they see each other?", Remus asked. Now he was annoyed because he didn't know. There were not many things he didn't know and he felt not comfortable with not knowing things that are worth knowing.  
"I know right!?", Sirius said excitedly. James laughed.  
"I think they can. It only makes sense.", he said.  
"Yeah, as you said, how can you have sex with someone you can't see? That just doesn't work. Moony, imagine I would be invisible. That wouldn't work, right?", Sirius said and Remus laughed.  
"No, Pads. That wouldn't work.", he answered, "Now sleep." Sirius kissed Remus once again.  
"G'night everyone.", James said.  
"Night Prongs.", Sirius answered. Remus smiled.  
"Goodnight.", he said and took Sirius' hand. He felt Sirius squeezing it gently and kissed him.  
"I love you.", Sirius whispered and Remus could feel his warm breath at his neck, what have him chills. Maybe it was Sirius being so close to him that gave him chills, maybe it was Sirius' breath tickling Remus' skin or maybe it was Sirius saying these words. Remus didn't know, but he loved it.  
"I love you too.", he whispered back.  
"Would you two please shut up? Some of us are trying to sleep.", James argued from opposite Sirius' bed.

"Shut up Prongs.", Sirius answered savagely. Then, he finally pulled Remus closer to him and fell asleep. Remus watched him for a while, stroking Sirius' long fluffy black hair and smiled to himself, until he fell asleep himself.  


**Chapter 16**  
The day was bright, the day brought surpeises. Peter was up second, as always after Remus. After him, James woke up, then Sirius. So far nothing interesting. Nor when they dressed and got ready in the bathroom. As every day, James brushed his teeth, washed his face and left his hair like it was. Peter laughed when James came out of the bathroom, looking as if someone had put his finger in a socket.  
"I look good.", Sirius said confident, as he walked out of the bathroom, shaking his black shiny hair. Peter laughed again.  
"There's nothing to laugh, Wormy.", Sirius said and Peter stopped, even though he knew it was just a joke. But then, at breakfast, something weird happened.  
"Hey, Peter.", two blonde sixth-year girls from Hufflepuff said as they say down. Peter looked after them.  
"Who were they?", James asked.  
"No idea." Peter really has no idea who these girls were. Then, more girls came up to them, but not sixth-years, first-years. Sirius' little fan club.  
"Hey, Emilia.", Sirius said, "Do you girls want to sit with us?" They all squeezed in and started eating hungrily. Peter noticed two of the girls, Emilia and another one, always looking from Sirius to Remus, back to Sirius, then to Remus, then they looked at each other and smiled satisfied.  
"Sirius.", the black haired girl asked quietly. Sirius looked at her.  
"What's up?", he asked. The girl bent forwards and whispered something in his ear. Sirius looked at her and smiled. Then, he turned around and kissed Remus. Hard, long, passionately. The girls giggled and applauded and James wolf-whistled. Sirius laughed and Remus turned bright red and continued eating wordless. Peter shivered.  
  
  
It was evening. Sirius had told Remus to meet him in the common room when the sun is going down. So Remus did. Sirius also told him not to look too good, so Remus didn't. Even though he never thought that he's very good-looking, but Sirius tells him the whole day, so he knows what Sirius means.  
"Good evening, my love.", Sirius said as Remus walked down the stairs.  
"Good evening, wanker. Now let's go!", Remus answered and Sirius laughed.  
"I bet you'll love it."  
"I bet you didn't managed it to be romantic."  
"Oh, I bet I did." Sirius grinned and Remus shook his head laughing.  
"We'll see.", he said and Sirius took his hand. Remus found one billion butterflies in his stomach and he didn't like this feeling. Or he did. At this point, Remus wasn't sure. But he loved Sirius. He was sure about that point.  
  
Sirius guided the way down to the field. The sun was already going down, leaving a wonderful red and orange sunset. But the field was deserted.  
"Do we have to walk far?", Remus asked, pointing out that he was tired of walking, but instead of answering, Sirius stopped. He took out his wand and murmured an anti-protecting spell. Remus' heart skipped a beat.  
"Wow.", he breathed. There were hundreds of lighting candles around a fire. In front of the fire were a few blankets and piles of chocolate. Remus smiled and kissed Sirius. He was not going to cry. No, he wasn't. No! And, yes, he cried.  
"Moony, are you crying?", Sirius asked gently and hugged him. Remus nodded.  
"I love you so much!", he said and sniffed. Sirius chuckled.  
"You're so sweet, my baby.", Sirius answered and kissed Remus on his forehead, "I love you too." Remus smiled and wiped away his tears.  
"Come on, let's sit down.", he said. Sirius have him a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie. Remus felt even more butterflies in his stomach, which made him go all fuzzy.  
"And?", Sirius asked and Remus could hear in his voice how nervous he really was, even though he didn't show.  
"You really did manage it.", Remus answered and kissed him.  
"But that's not the best.", Sirius answered. Remus didn't ask what the best was. Sirius hugged him around his waist and together they watched the sunset. Remus  smiled to himself.

  
As the sun finally had gone down, Sirius stood up and bowed.  
"May you join me for this dance?", he asked and Remus was surprised. Really surprised. Sirius usually didn't dance often. Sometimes Remus had caught him somewhere in the castle, but it wasn't that often. Sirius seemed to had noticed Remus' surprise and laughed.  
"Yes, Moony. I can dance and, yes Moony, I want to dance with you.", he said and Remus took his hand. Sirius pulled him up in a warm hug. Everything in Remus' body tickled. Sirius put one hand in his pocket and then music started playing. Remus was even more surprised.  
"You have an MP3-Player?", he asked. Sirius nodded.  
"Yeah, Evans gave it to me.", he answered and then they started dancing. They danced to the slow music coming from Sirius' pocket. Remus lay his head against Sirius' chest and smiled.  
  
  
Yes, Sirius had danced. It was unusual. Very unusual. Added to that, he had danced with Remus, what was even more unusual. Now, they just lay there and looked at the stars.  
"You see that star?", Sirius asked and pointed at the brightest star in the sky. Remus nodded.  
"That's Sirius.", he said.  
"Yes, Canis Majoris. All my siblings are named after constellations.", Sirius told him.  
"I've always asked myself why."  
"I don't know. It's a Black-tradition.", Sirius said, "But when I would have a daughter, I'd call her Orange. Because hoe cool would it be, if I could say 'This is Orange. She's the new Black'." Remus laughed.  
"Yes, you would do that.", he said and Sirius laughed too. And so they lay there in the dark, the fire slowly extinguished and the stars shone brighter, cuddled up together and listening to the sounds of the calm wind and the owl hooting from the owlery. Remus sat up and looked at Sirius.  
"You owe me a favour.", Remus said. Sirius sat up too and furrowed his brows.  
"What for?", he asked and Remus laughed.  
"You shocked me last night!" Remus was still laughing slightly.  
"Like what favour?" Sirius demanded weakly.  
Remus kneeled next to him. He rested his hand gently on Sirius' head and forced his head upwards, his fingers sliding into the dark hair it found there. Sirius' eyes widened as Remus' fingers gently stroked the warm scalp underneath his hair and another hand found its way towards Sirius' nape and stayed there, a gentle presence on his flushed neck.  
A mischievous look fixed itself on Remus' face. Remus leaned forward and brushed soft lips against Sirius' cheek, pressed gently into the skin.The touch sent tiny sparks flying off Sirius and Remus smiled against his cheek.  
"Guess you were right about the ignition of your skin, huh?", he whispered and then moved his mouth downwards towards his jaw, gently tasting the sensitive skin there.  
Sirius shivered with the contact, unwillingly giving himself over to this blissful torture.  
"Moony …", Sirius whispered, "Please, just either kiss me or punch me, but don't torture me." Remus pulled back slightly and grinned.  
"I choose option A.", he said and moved forward, finally pressing his lips to Sirius', causing more fireworks to escape. Once Remus' lips were firmly attached to his, Sirius could not control his reactions any more and he had to take Remus. He opened his mouth and forced Remus to do the same, letting his tongue flicker out and enter places Sirius knew where all but untouched.  
He felt a small sense of satisfaction as Remus moaned against the kiss and leant forward, pushing himself further into Sirius' grasp. Sirius grabbed the other boy's shoulders and pulled him up from the floor, levelling their heights.  
Sirius' lips enclosed over Remus', his lips capturing Remus' top while Remus took possession of his bottom. Sirius felt Remus let go of his neck and felt his hands wandering elsewhere. They pulled apart and looked in each other's eyes, breathing heavily from the impact of their touch.

Sirius then suddenly pushed Remus against the grass, and closed the distance between them quickly, hungrily now, as they both felt that need swell in their chests, a void begging to be filled. Their lips met with bruising force, Sirius' tongue slipping through Remus' lips, as they brought themselves as close as possible, their chests' pushing against each other, hands roaming each other's bodies.  
Remus' mewled softly as they came apart, and Sirius' hand felt around the edge of his shirt, before plunging underneath, feeling every forbidden curve.  
Sirius mused that Remus' skin felt like silk, it was so smooth, yet he knew if he were to look he would find hundreds of old scars all over his body. Remus shivered, both from the cold and Sirius' wet yet warm hands as they travelled around his stomach and hips, teasingly slipping fingers into the hem of his pants. Remus wrapped his legs around Sirius' waist, pulling their groins together. They both moaned as they felt their hardening lengths through the fabric of their pants.  
Sirius took hold of Remus' hips and slowly moved them together, crating greater friction. Remus grabbed the sides of Sirius' face, and roughly brought their lips back together, passion over taking him as all his senses were filled with the smell, and taste, of Sirius.  
Carefully, Sirius adjusted Remus in his lap, so their groins rubbed together perfectly, their chests and stomach pressed together. They both moaned louder as they felt each others erection pressing into their own, their breathing speed up and body heat engulfing them. Moving against each other, Sirius started to move their hips faster, picking up speed as they both felt their climaxes approaching.  
Tongues entwining, bodies moving against each other, Remus cried out as they came together, Sirius groaning deeply against his mouth. They both breathed heavily as they felt waves of pleasure wash over them, but did not let go of each other, as they lay down on the damp ground.  
They lay there together, for a long time, Sirius stroked Remus' hair, his other arm placed protectively around his waist, as Remus snuggled against Sirius' chest.  
"I love you." Remus whispered, still breathing heavily. Sirius kissed his forehead.  
"I love you too.", he answered and smiled. Everything was silent, but their breathing, the wind and the owls. After a long time, Sirius said carefully:  
"I think we should go back." Remus looked at him and nodded.  
"Yeah. We have classes tomorrow.", he answered and they stood up. Sirius kissed Remus once more and with a wipe of his wand the wood, the blankets and the candles, the piles of chocolates and their mugs vanished back to the place where they belonged. Remus took Sirius' hand and they went back to the castle. Sirius opened the big oak doors and they stepped in, wishing they had James' cloak. They sneaked up to their dorm room, successfully, pulled on their pyjamas and went to sleep. Then, a voice said:  
"Back again?" Sirius could hear James smirking.  
"Shut up, Prongs.", Remus answered and thrust a pillow in James' direction. Sirius heard James laughing and laughed too. Remus giggled and then laughed too, so did Peter. And they lay there in the dark, laughing and every one of them happy,  every one of them tired. So they laughed, and then drifted off to sleep.  


**Chapter 17**  
Sixth year was over. Seventh year had started and the Marauders sat in the Hog's Head. Sirius held Remus' hand and Peter looked around happily. James watched them and smiled. This was the best time of his life.  
"How's Lily?", Remus asked James.  
"Oh, she's fine. You have seen her lately, did you?", James answered. Remus nodded.  
"Yeah, I've seen her in the library the other day, but she needed to hurry, so we haven't really talked."  
"It's getting serious between the two of you, isn't it?", Peter asked.  
"Yeah, I guess. You know, to be honest, I've been thinking for a long time to proposing to her.", James announced and Sirius choked on his butterbeer.  
"To Evans?", he asked and coughed.  
"Yeah...", James said unsure.  
"Mate, have you  really thought this through?"

"Yes... I mean, I love her. I really do.", James said and took a sip from his own butterbeer.  
"I don't know, Prongs. I mean there are many things that speak against it, for example that you both are far too young. You and Lily are 17.", Remus said thoughtfully, "But on the other hand, you dont have to marry straight away. You can extend the engagement."  
"Yeah, I've thought about that too. And you know, it's not as though I love her since we got together. I love since third year. Merlin, and I've liked her from the first minute I've seen her. You remember first year?", James said. Sirius laughed.  
"How could we forget? You've been telling us all day that she's so nice and that she's so clever and everything.", he said laughing.  
"And you kept a hold of this opinion till now.", Peter added, laughing too. James snickered.  
"But, what do you think about it?", he asked.  
"I think you should do whatever your heart wants. If she makes you happy, what she obviously does, ask her.", Remus advised.  
"As long as you still be playing Quidditch with me and draw maps and sneak out under your cloak and make kinky comments and be as stupid as you are now, then yes, then I'll accept her.", Sirius said, "And I'd love to have Marlene around all the time to make nasty remarks."  
"I like her. And you like her. So ask her.", Peter said smiling. James smiled happily.  
"Thanks, boys.", he said and drank from his butterbeer again. Sirius leaned over the table to James and said quietly:  
"James, there's Snivellus." James looked up and, indeed, Severus was standing on the bar and ordered a drink, his hair as greasy as ever and his face as pale as ever and his nose as crooked as ever and his eyes as dark as ever and his look as grumpy as ever. Severus Snape, as ever.  
"Let's talk to him.", James suggested.  
"Are you mad?", Remus asked.  
"Nah, Prongs, not today.", Peter said.  
"Come on guys!", Sirius said fully convinced.  
"Where do you think his way will be going when he finishes Hogwarts?", James asked, not looking for an answer.  
"The git would like to be friends with my cousin.", Sirius said with a dark look on his face, "I mean, I don't like her either, but I don't want Snivellus hanging with her and then they'd become best buddies and then he'll always be with my family and me and then soon I'm going to vomit!" James laughed.  
"See? And Narcissa is not a friend of Gryffindors either, nor is her boyfriend.", James agreed.  
"Wormtail?", Sirius asked and looked at him. Peter sighed.  
"He knows more cursed than any of us!", he said.  
"Don't be such a coward. Come on.", James said and then, Peter agreed. Sirius looked at Remus.  
"Moony?", he asked and looked him pleading in the eyes.  
"Padfoot. It's a big risk.", he said vaguely.  
"Come on, love. What's life without a little risk?", Sirius answered and smiled hopefully. Remus sighed.  
"You...", he looked at James and Peter, "Fine."  
"Yeah!", James cheered and stood up. Sirius kissed Remus and held his hand even tighter. They stood up and followed James to the bar.  
"Na, na, na. If this isn't good old Snivellus.", James said mockingly. Severus turned away without saying anything.  
"Look at me, when I talk to you!", James said and pushed him aside.  
"What do you want, Potter?", Severus said, his voice calm and dangerous.  
"What I want? Oh, just talking." Severus looked behind James, where the other three were standing.  
"Ah. We have the werewolf, the Black, the fat and ugly one and the complete idiot with glasses. Perfect gang, honestly.", he said.  
"Shut up!", Sirius said and let go of Remus' hand and took a step forwards next to James.  
"James. Not in here.", Remus said. James turned around.  
"I... I don't.", James said suddenly.  
"What?", Sirius asked.  
"And you tell me I'm in the coward!", Severus said and laughed.  
"No.", James responded calmly, "I have something more important to do." He looked to the door. Severus turned around. Lily stood in the door, her red hair swinging in wind. She smiled at the waiter and looked around. Her eyes fell on James and Severus and the smile vanished from her lips. "Let's go.", James said and his friends nodded agreeingly. They strode past Severus and Sirius took care that he bumped his shoulder against Severus'.

"James.", Lily said and kissed him, "What were you doing?" James hesitated, then opened his mouth to answer, even though he exactly knew that Lily would freak out if he would tell her the truth, but before he could start to explain, Sirius said:  
"James wanted to talk." Lily looked at him.  
"Talk?", she asked in disbelief and Sirius nodded.  
"Yeah, just talking." Lily turned back to James.  
"Is that true?", she asked.  
"Is he hurt?", James asked instead of answering.  
"James, answer me."  
"Yes. It's true. Just talking.", he said. Lily kissed him again.  
"Um, Lily?", James asked carefully.  
"Hm? What is it?", she asked and her big brown eyes lighted.  
"Can I talk to you outside?" She looked at the other three and they nodded hastily.  
"I... um, yes.", she said and followed James outside.  
"I wanted to give you something.", James said once the door closed. Lily looked at him.  
"You do?" James nodded and pulled out a small box.  
"What's that?", Lily asked and took the box. James only smiled and she nodded. Lily opened the box carefully and looked at the golden ball inside.  
"James?", she asked.  
"It's a snitch.", he said and grinned. Lily got it and responded:  
"So I noticed." James felt the worst dejavu ever.  
"You remember the snitch I brought you last year?", he asked.  
"Yes, I do. The one with the flesh memory."  
"No", James laughed, "Ever golden snitch has flesh memories." Lily nodded.  
"Ah.", she said.  
"Yeah... This is the one from last year."  
"Oh. Thanks?!", Lily said and James felt as though she didn't really get it.  
"Touch it.", he ordered. So Lily did. She took the snitch out of the box and watched it open. It revealed a silver ring with a diamond ruby on its top. Lily held the snitch down. James got to one knee and looked up at her.  
"Lily. Will you marry me?", he asked. Lily looked at him, then back at the snitch, and didn't know what to say. Her mouth was wide open and she gazed at James.  
"I...", her voice was shaking, "Yes! I do!" James smiled and stood up.  
"I do! Yes! Yes! Yes! One billion times Yes!", Lily said and kissed him. She peppered kisses all over James' face. He laughed.  
"I love you!", he said laughing.  
"I love you too." Lily's voice broke and she cried. Out of happiness. James smiled and kissed her years away.  
"Let's go back in.", he said. Lily agreed smiling.  
"May I carry you, my lady?", James asked. Lily laughed and jumped on his back. Together, they stepped in the pub. Sirius sprang up and asked:" She said yes?" James nodded happily.  
"She said yes!", he shouted and everyone in the pub applauded and wolf-whistled. James and Lily laughed and sat down.  


**Chapter 18**  
It was two days after James' proposal, which would be an acceptable happy ending, but it's not. Sirius sat in the common room and read, when James stepped in.  
"There you are.", he said. Sirius looked up and smiled.  
"How are you?", he asked.  
"I'm fine thanks. But that's not why I came here." James sat down on the couch next to Sirius.  
"What is it?", Sirius asked and put his book aside.  
"I wanted to ask you if you would like to be my best man?", James asked and picked at his shirt.  
"Stop it.", Sirius said and clapped James' hand, "I'd love to be you best man! Thanks, Prongs." James smiled.  
"Alright. Good. Thank you."  
"I need to thank you. It's a big honour for me.", Sirius said. They talked for a while about the wedding and, of course, Quidditch.  
"But, you know, Lily and I want to marry once we've finished school.", James said and picked at his shirt again.  
"James, stop it!", Sirius said and pulled his hands away, "But yeah, I think that s thw best season to do so, isn't it?" James nodded.  
  
  
"Hey Lily.", Peter said. Lily stopped in mid-track and looked at him in surprise.  
"Peter!", she said and smiled, "How are you?"  
"I'm fine, thanks. And you? You must be very happy."  
"Oh, yes. It's a very great feeling. It's just strange for me to think of the next big part in my life. I mean, yes, I am very happy and I am very looking  forward to it, but it's also a bit intimidating to know that straight after school I'm going to marry. And I'm going to marry James Potter!" Peter laughed.

"It'll be alright.", he said comforting.  
"Yeah, I guess.", Lily agreed, "I'm sorry, Peter, but I need to go now, I'll meet Marlene in the Great Hall." Peter nodded and she left. He smiled after her. That was all he wished for James. Him being happy with the love of his life. And he was happy. So Peter was too.  


**Chapter 19**  
And the year had passed. They all had finished their N.E.W.T.s and were going to be free adults in the Wizarding world. It was James' and Lily's wedding day. Their mothers organised everything, the location, the music, the dishes and everything else. They agreed on a Muggle and Wizard wedding. The room was beautiful. Enchanted candles swept at the ceiling, like they did in Hogwarts and golden snitches flew around to symbolise the snitch James brought Lily. Sirius was probably more stressed and nervous than anyone else, even more than the bride herself.  
"Sirius, calm down.", Remus said and laughed. Sirius sat on a chair in the big dressing room and breathed heavily. Remus laughed.  
"Moony, it's not funny.", Sirius said.  
"It is. Why are you freaking out?"  
"I don't know!", Sirius whined and Remus didn't stop laughing.  
"I think I know something than can calm you down.", Remus said and wiggled his eyebrows smirking. He bent down to kiss Sirius. Sirius kissed back, but in that moment-  
"Moony, Padfoot, how are you on this wonderful day?" The door going flung open and James danced in, followed by Peter. Sirius calmed down and they dressed themselves.  
  
"Aw, Prongs, you look smashing.", Sirius commented, grinning debonairly over his friend's shoulder. They looked at each other in the mirror they were standing in front of.  
"Thanks Padfoot. I'll make sure to lie to you before you get married, too.", James smirked.  
"No mate, I'm not lying. You look brilliant." They grinned at each other. "It's Wormtail who looks like the basket case he really is."  
Peter was just behind them, trying to fasten his cuff links.  
"Shut up.", he said and Sirius giggled.  
  
"Sirius, Remus have you finished, dears?"  
"Yes, Miss Potter, we're coming!", Remus shouted back. He opened the door and the wonderful Euphemia Potter, James' mother, stood in front of them. She was like Sirius' second mother since he ran away from home and Sirius loved her far more than his own mother. He hugged her.  
"Now hurry. The ceremony will begin soon.", she said and smiled. Sirius smiled back, took Remus' hand and followed her. Remus and Miss Potter sat down in the first bench, Sirius stood to Marlene, who was Lily's bridesmaide. She smiled happily. Miss Potter sat down next to Fleamont Potter, James' father.  
  
The ceremony began. Remus looked around. Lily's sister Petunia didn't attend her wedding, which was very sad. Lily once mentioned that her sister was highly against Lily being a witch and didn't agree with her marrying a wizard. It was a quiet wedding and only a few people were there. Lily looked beautiful in the ivory gown, which was covered in tiny satin flowers. The chest was embroidered with roses. Her shoes were simple white pumps. Her hair was magnificently wavy. James wore an elegant black suit and an ivory tie, which matched Lily's gown. His hair still was a mess. Sirius and Remus had tried to tame it, but it's not that easy. No matter how many times you combed it, it always exploded again. Lily walked down the aisle on the arm of her father. She smiled happily.  
Lily and James looked good together. Sirius too wore a black suit and his hair was as wonderful as ever. As Remus looked around, his eyes fell on a boy at the end of the room. Severus Snape. He, like most of the men, wore a black suit and his greasy hair hung over his ears. He looked miserable, even angrier than on any other day. The Marauders knew that Severus fancied Lily, but if he did love her so much, why did he even come? It was clear that this won't be funny for him when he loved her so much. Remus watched Sirius, standing slightly behind James and smiled every now an then to Remus. Remus smiled back. It was a beautiful ceremony.

  
  
Aftermath, they all went to a restaurant, which was reserved for the Potters and the Evans.  
James found Professor McGonnagal talking to his mother and walked up to her. "Minnie!", he said loudly and McGonnagal turned around, smiling. "Mr Potter.", she said and James' mother left them alone. James smiled. "I'm glad you came.", he said. "I'm glad you invited me.", McGonnagal answered laughing, "Now you're one step closer to your Quidditch-obsessed son." James laughed. "Can't believe you remember that.", he said surprised. "I will never forget that conversation!", she answered and laughed. "Tell my son about it.", James laughed and McGonnagal laughed too. She took a sip from the glass of champagne. "It's a very nice wedding.", she said and looked around. "Yeah, but the night will get even better.", James answered and wiggled his eyebrows smirking. The professor laughed. "I see you're still the same.", she said smiling. James nodded. "I won't change." "Severus!", Lily cried in surprise, "You came!" she detached Marlene's arm from her shoulders and ran to him. She flung herself in his arms. He looked surprised, but otherwise his face was stony. Even so, Lily could see as she looked closely that there was a bit of pleasure behind those cold black eyes.  
"You expected otherwise?", he drawled. With most men it would sound boring, the way his words were so drawn out, but he could pull it off.  
"Of course I didn't.", Lily answered smiling, "But I had a few doubts. James, in specific." Severus sneered.  
"No, I love to see you.", he said and forced a smile.  
"Thank you. I'm happy you're here too.", Lily said. She turned around to Marlene.  
"You two know each other, right?", Lily asked and smiled. Both of her friends nodded wordless.  
"Sev, would you join us at our table?" Lily turned back to Severus.  
"It would be a great pleasure.", he answered.  
  
"Hey, Prongs. Look who's coming.", Sirius said and pointed at Lily and Marlene, who were followed by Severus.  
"Mr Potter.", Lily said and kissed James, before sitting down next to him.  
"Mrs Potter.", he answered proudly and smiled.  
"Potter.", Severus said and sat down too.  
"Snivellus.", James answered with a slight smirk. Severus sneered.  
"Well, um... I'm going to search something.", Sirius said, only wanting to get as far away from Severus as he could.  
"Yeah, I'll help you.", Remus said and looked at Peter, "Do you want to help too?" Peter shook his head and Remus and Sirius left.  
"Do you think we can leave James alone with Snivellus on one table?", Sirius asked and laughed, as they went back to their dressing room.  
"Lily's with him.", Remus answered shortly and shrugged. Sirius opened the door and they stepped in. Remus closed the door behind him and locked her. Once the door was locked, Remus' eyelashes fluttered closed as he leaned in and found Sirius' lips with his. Sirius' arms trapped Remus' body and Sirius' tongue slipped past his lips.  
All those wonderful sensations returned in a flash. His blood rushing south, Remus pressed his hips forward and his fingers strayed into Sirius' hair, eager to tousle the straight, neatly arranged strands, which were so unusual for Sirius. It was fortunate that his mouth and tongue remembered what to do, because Remus had no thoughts to spare on kissing techniques. Sirius' skin was so warm, Remus feared they would both burn up if they didn't stop kissing soon, though that mattered little since stopping clearly wasn't possible.  
  
The concept of time was lost on Remus and he was sure—though it made no sense—that hours had passed before Sirius pulled back, leaving Remus gasping for air. Inexplicably, Remus' back was pressed to the stone wall and Sirius' hands gripped Remus' hips almost painfully. Remus couldn't even remember them moving, though at one point he had felt exceptionally dizzy, Sirius must have spun him around.  
  
  
Sirius breathed heavily and found the bound of Remus' pants. Remus was hard, fully hard, which meant he had to have been aroused even before they reached the room, which meant Remus had been thinking about Sirius and kissing, just as Sirius had been thinking about him. Sirius moved his hand, curiously measuring Remus' so well-known length, He looked so mesmerised, utterly enraptured, with his flushed cheeks and puffy kiss-suffering lips, as though Sirius' touch was the most magnificent thing he had ever experienced. It was intoxicating, Sirius would have done anything just to make Remus look like that for as long as possible.  
"That's... That's..." Remus panted, his hips twitching minutely. "Brilliant."  
Sirius squeezed Remus' cock a little, massaging it firmly.  
"God," Remus said, his whole body shivering so hard Sirius feared it was catching. Without thinking, Sirius moved his hand and reached for the button of Remus trousers. He leaned forward and whispered in Remus' ear:  
"I love you." Remus giggled, familiar to Lily when James told her that  he loved her. Sirius smiled and moved his hand. Remus moved his hips forward and back, in the same rhythm as Sirius moved his hand. Their breath was in the same rhythm as well and their hearts beat as one. Remus' lips stretched into a small smile. His mouth watering and his nostrils filling with Remus' scent, Sirius' shivered, quickly looked up, and kissed Remus dutifully. He planned to pull away again, but Remus deepened the kiss and pushed his tongue into Sirius' mouth, exploring, swirling, making Sirius' cock strain against the fabric of his pants.

  
It was hard to pull away, partly because Sirius didn't want to and partly because Remus' free hand gripped Sirius' hair, holding his head in place. Remus' other hand moved between them, occasionally grazing Sirius' painfully hard cock through his trousers, the tiny touches driving Sirius mad. Sounds of slapping flesh reached his ears together with Remus' long, muffled moans.  
  
Sirius looked down between them again and gasped at the sight of Remus' fingers wrapped around his cock, sliding up and down along the thick length as tiny drops of liquid gathered on the tip of the flushed head. Sirius fell down on his knees, tasting those pearly drops and pulling Remus' cock into his mouth. With an undignified whimper, Sirius looked up, but that didn't help him at all. Remus was staring at him through half-lidded eyes, his moans turning into breathless gasps as he struggled to hold Sirius' gaze. Then Remus shuddered violently, his eyes rolled back in his head, and a jet of pearlescent liquid hit Sirius' shirt, and a few drops even splattered his tie. But Sirius was hardly aware of it. He was staring at Remus' face clenched into a grimace of pleasure, his flushed cheeks and fluttering dark eyelashes. Slowly, Remus opened his eyes and looked down at Sirius and immediately fell down on his own knees. He breathed heavily, just as Sirius did. Remus was beautiful. He was amazing. He was incredible. Unbelievable. Perfect. Sirius smiled and took out his wand. A cleaning spell went over his tie and shirt, over his face and over Remus' pants. Remus laughed. The air smelled like sex and Remus. Sirius stood up and kissed Remus, then opened the window to let fresh air in.  
"We should go back.", Remus said and stood up too. Sirius agreed and opened the door. He kissed Remus again, then lead the way back to the hall where their friends, and Severus, were sitting.  
  
  
"Were are they?", Lily asked and looked around nervously. Peter and James shrugged.  
"You should start without them.", Peter said, in fact, he was just hungry, but Lily shook her head.  
"We can't. Everyone should be there.", she said and looked at James. Peter sighed. He was really, really hungry and the sneers from Severus, every time Peter said something, didn't comfort him at all. James picked at his tie.  
"I have an idea.", he said and stood up.  
"Ladies and Gentlemen.", he spoke in the microphone. Peter hoped that the buffet was now open, but James showed no signs of opening it.  
"Two of my best friends are gone and I would like to find them. So if you may excuse me", he said loudly, "Cats are far cooler than dogs!" No one in the hall got it, but Lily, James, Severus and Peter. Peter laughed and not one second later, the great door banged open and Sirius shouted:  
"HOW DARE YOU! SAY THAT AGAIN!" James laughed.  
"There's Sirius.", he said. Remus shuffled behind Sirius and snapped:  
"Sirius, be quiet!"  
"And here's Remus.", James said. And then, the magic words followed, which Peter waited for so long.  
"The buffet is open.", Lily spoke into the microphone. Everyone applauded and got up to fetch some food.  
  
  
After dinner, everyone sat on their table and talked.  
"Remember that time that James put up 'missing dog' posters all over Hogwarts and started crying to Lily because he lost his dog named Padfoot?", Remus asked and laughed.  
"How could I forget?", Sirius answered laughing, "He actually dragged me into the Slytherin corridor and left me there with the slimy gits." Severus looked at Sirius.  
"Sorry.", Sirius added and laughed.  
"Good times.Best idea of my life, if you ask me.", James grinned.

"Because you got Lily's attention for ten minutes before she went back to hating you?", Peter asked laughing.  
"That, and Sirius took out a chunk of old Snivelly's leg.", James answered and grinned in Severus' direction. Sirius laughed.  
"I'm still trying to get the filth off my teeth.", he said.  
"Boys.", Lily snapped.  
"Sorry, love.", James said.  
"But Remus, you remember that time when I thought I'm going crazy?", Lily asked laughing.  
"Oh yes, I remember it perfectly well. It was in third year, wasn't it?", Remus answered laughing.  
"Yeah. We were walking back from the library and I saw a dog riding a stag in the forbidden forest.", Lily told them and James and Sirius burst out laughing.  
"I remember that!", Sirius said excitedly.  
"Yeah, we used to run in circles in the forest.", James laughed.  
"Ouu, but Prongs, so do you remember that one time we got detention in fifth year?", Sirius asked with a mischievous grin.  
"You mean that one time when we distributed false 'expedited results' O.W.L.s to students?", James answered.  
"And created mass panic among the students?", Sirius added proudly. James laughed.  
"Of course I remember it! Poor old Minnie went crazy!", he said. Lily, Remus, Peter and Marlene laughed too. Severus just sat there and watched them.  
"Remus and I were always the ones who stood in the bathroom and brushed our teeth", Peter said.  
"And Sirius and I were always the ones who walked around the whole dorm and sung dramatic duets", James said.  
"And used your toothbrush as a microphone.", Remus finished laughing.  
"Most of the time it was something from Queen.", Sirius said.  
"Most of the time? It was always that damn song 'Bohemiam Rhapsody'.", Peter laughed.  
"And you sing dreadful!", Remus said laughing. Marlene choked on her drink.  
"Sirius, do you remember that time when we used to went out to Hogsmeade and we sat there in the Three Broomsticks and I was like 'Oh my god, have you seen that blonde girl in herbology?' And you went like..."  
" 'Yeah, you two would be great together, but honestly have you seen how adorable Remus Fucking Lupin is?' ", Sirius finished. Marlene laughed.  
"It was marvellous!", she said. Remus kissed Sirius' cheek and smiled. Lily turned to Severus.  
"Tell us a funny story from your time at Hogwarts.", she said. Severus shook his head.  
"There were no really funny stories.", he said.  
"Then tell us the best time of your whole life.", Lily said. This time, Severus didn't need to think.  
"The day when we were younger and your sister bullied you and we lay on the grass under the big tree and we talked. And the birds made these annoying happy sounds, but I didn't care because I was happy too and I had you by my side and everything seemed to be alright.", he said. Lily smiled.  
"Yeah, that was a great day. I remember the face of Petunia after you stepped out from behind the tree and just looked at her and she was like..." Lily made a scared face and Severus laughed. He really laughed. James, Peter, Sirius and Remus looked at each other. It was a rare sight- Severus Snape laughing.  
"Oh, I have another one.", Sirius said, "Remeber that time when Minnie gave me detention for bringing the professor a ball of catsip upon my arrival to Transfiguartion class?"  
"Yeah! You had to polish the trophies without magic!", Peter laughed.  
"Or the one time when Minnie said she could set her desk on fire because we hid under it.", James laughed.  
"Or the one time Sirius took out the exam answers.", Remus asked.  
"Yeah and I was like 'I took it out.' And her reaction was like 'my desk was locked.' ", Sirius said.  
"And then you just replied casualoy: 'Which made it difficult to open, you might want to make a note of that.' Hilarious.", James laughed. Lily and Marlene laughed too and this time, even Severus laughed. Sirius kissed Remus and Lily kissed James. Peter, Marlene and Severus smiled happily. They were all happy.  
  
Now, this is an acceptable happy ending.  
END


End file.
